Unwavering Bonds
by Omega Ultra
Summary: Summer is a beautiful time of year when the world seems open to infinite possibilities. Yet, the only thing on the Loud Family's mind is how to deal with Lincoln being diagnosed with an incurable condition. Without options to turn to and Lincoln's condition worsening, the sisters vow to make whatever little time Lincoln has left, the best time of his life.
1. A Summer In The Hills

**A/N So, when I first came and started writing for the Loud House, I came up with a few prompts to work with. One of them was "Lincoln is dying and his family has to cope." So I drafted a first chapter and planned that story out… and then I found out that there was a story that was doing that exact thing already. So I worked on the prompt a bit more, but still felt unsure of it. So what better way to find out what to do with this story than to ask you guys!**

 **I hope you guys enjoy! R &R!**

Chapter 1: A Summer In The Hills

Summer break, the time of year when the whole world seems open for the young mind to ponder… and of course, the time for older minds to finally get a break from the hustle and bustle that is the education system.

The warm summer sun shines upon the winding, old mountain road. The nearby birds sing their merry song with cheer in each note. This little bubble of the world seems so peaceful that even the nearby waterfall cannot help, but give a calm roar. It is as if the world is a book just waiting to be opened.

On such a pristine day, where can one possibly find the Loud family? Speeding down the smooth mountain road, leaving a trail of mustard in their wake.

"Hungry y'all? Look no further! Come on down to the Burpin' Burger! Grade D beef and special spice, when it comes back up it's twice as nice!" The family sings, their voices resonating with excitement, as they chomp down on some bland, low fat, low calorie, healthy veggie bur-

Oh who could I possibly deceive; the Loud children devour some of the unhealthiest burgers they could've possibly bought!

McDo- I mean, the food restaurant that because of copyright cannot be named, pales in comparison to the unhealthiness of the Burpin' Burger!

"Thanks for the ride Lori!" The young Lincoln Loud shouts, his bright smile is only contrasted by the slight bags under his eyes, no doubt from spending one too may nights awake with his sisters.

The young woman nods, her own joy cutting through her usual teenage cynicism, "No prob bro, a trip to Burpin' Burger's just to hard to pass up!"

She gives the steering wheel a slight turn and manages to get the family van to gently roll down the winding mountain road. Though with the vanzilla, 'gently' means not speeding downhill at eighty-miles-per-hour. After all, the darn thing is a speeding metal death trap as it is!

"Ahh, summer in the Grand Old Hills." She whispers, as her mind and body take in the gorgeous scenery around them. To their left are the Grand Old Hills, a small, yet luscious, mountain range that pokes out from the island's side. They stand ever strong as they watch over the beautiful, yet fragile coastline.

To their right is the steep cliff face that leads to the beautiful Aloha beach. "These hazy days are to remember."

The eldest sister quietly opens the windows, allowing the salty ocean breeze mix with the mountain forest's pleasant scent, filling the usually unpleasant scent of the family van with the sweet aromas of summer life.

The smell seems to soothe the restless siblings, to the point that, for a short moment in time and space, the Loud family sits by passively, in perfect silence…

Yet, it is well known that no gold can stay forever.

It's Leni, the second eldest, who breaks the serenity, "Hey Lori! Can we stop over there?!" She eagerly points at a nearby cliff, overlooking Aloha Beach. From what they can see, it is rather angled with the inner portion slightly lower than the outer. At its peak rests a lone tree, its twisted bark leaning towards the cliff's edge.

It seems the perfect spot to enjoy their end of summer vacation.

For a moment the young woman hesitates, as if her own feelings and desire to relax were slowly convincing her to stop. Yet, despite her own desires, as the person driving and in charge, she has to respond, "Leni, you know mom wants us home soon! We can't afford any distractions!" Though, even she has to admit, she struggles to not take her tired eyes off the road and look upon the calm hill.

" _Note to self, never stay awake until two A.M talking to Bobby, and especially don't wake up at six the next morning!_ " She thinks, her exhaustion only held at bay by the coffee she had downed that morning.

"Aww!" Her younger siblings whine. " _Now that I think of it, maybe it would be a good idea to take a break from driving and just relax…_ " her calm demeanor is only put off by her need to keep control.

Before she even has a chance to reconsider, the young genius, Lisa Loud, leans over and declares, "Hey Lori, if we stop right now and spend two point seven one eight two eight times ten raised to the first minutes there, then drive at exactly ten miles over the speed limit on the way home, we'll make it back to the hotel with twenty minutes to spare, just as promised." Her voice radiates with excitement, an emotion uncharacteristic of the usually stoic four-year-old.

Then she turns her notebook towards the young woman, revealing a jumble of notes, most likely scribbled down hastily in the chaos of the car ride.

"Plus!" Lynn cuts in, her hardy personality cutting through the turmoil, "We're on vacation! I'm sure mom and dad wouldn't mind if we're just a few minutes late!"

Lori thinks for a moment, still unsure of what to do. Her body and head both ache; she had just driven about fifteen miles in an oversized van filled to near capacity with her siblings. It would be more surprising if nothing hurt.

So she sighs, and responds in defeat, "You've got a point there Lynn…" before pulling onto the nearby off ramp, "Fine, we can stop for a few minutes."

"Awesome!" Leni cheers as she goes into her nearby purse, no doubt searching for her sunscreen.

"Rockin'!" Luna strums away at her acoustic guitar, "This'll be awesome!"

Luan turns to her dummy and asks, "What do you think Mr. Coconuts?" And the wooden man responds with, "I think it's a great idea! Maybe you'll be able to come up with some better material!"

Lynn pulls out a football and starts spinning it on her finger, "Aww yeah! Practice time!"

"This summer isn't that bad after all…" Lucy gives a soft smile, uncharacteristic of her usual Gothic demeanor, "It's given me plenty of material to write with.

"Let's do it!" Lana shouts, as she sticks her head out the window to get a better view of the hill, "I wonder what the mud is like!"

"Eww! Lana, we're on vacation!" Lola shouts in frustration, "Can't you go one day without trying to swim in mud?!"

Lana responds with an excited, "Nope! I love mud!"

Lola sighs, "I'm in too, a nice hill would be good for my complexion."

Oddly or humorously enough, it seems as if Lisa is the most excited. He usual stoicism replaced by scientific curiosity, "I can't wait to do experiments up there!"

Lincoln, unlike his more vocal sisters, just smiles and nods in agreement.

"Ok then you guys, but only for a few minutes!" Lori insists, before pulling over to the base of the hill.

"Enjoy guys, it's the end of summer after all." She says, before unlocking the doors, stepping out and stretching, "Go have some fun."

Then she looks up, towards the edge of the cliff and starts to stroll over her head held back and resting against her arms, "If you guys need me, I'll be over there, ok?"

Her siblings nod, before jumping out of the van and stepping on the hill's soft grass.

It only takes a few seconds for Lana to take a quick look around and shout, "This is the best vacation ever!" before throwing her arms out and plopping face-first onto the hill's moist mud, a dream of hers to be sure.

"Eww! Lana that's so gross!" Lola complains with her usual annoying tone, "How do you deal with that?!"

Despite everyone's better judgment and all of the convincing the Louds had tried on her, she still decided to go on vacation wearing her most expensive gown and pageant gear. So, what happens when you mix a pageant girl, her gear, and her mud-loving twin? The obvious of course.

Lana rolls in the moist mud for a few moments, before turning on her back and sitting up with her arms still in the wet earth, "Oh Lola, you just don't know the benefits of playing around in the mud." Then she takes a handful of the stuff and throws it at the pageant queen, "Here have some!"

"Hey!" her twin screams in anger and frustration, but before she can retaliate, Lana throws another mud ball at her.

"Okay, now I'm mad!" Lola declares, before jumping in the mud puddle alongside her sister. A few seconds later, the duo is playfully splashing each other, with giggles and laughs followed by more splashing and more laughing. Lana will probably feel Lola's wrath later.

 _"Heh, I remember when I was that nonchalant about life, then I remember that I had four siblings by their age."_ Lori thinks, the thought more than enough to bring a smile to her weary face.

A few short feet away from them, the young comedian Luan tries desperately to get Lily to laugh with her hill and sea based puns.

Though, that goes over just as well as one would suspect.

"Hey Lily, what do you call a hill by the ocean?!" And the infant responds by flailing her arms around with the biggest smile on her face, "Poo, poo!" then she continues by talking in random baby gibberish.

"Yes!" Luan excitedly responds, "And no," she adds with a chuckle, "You call it a hilloceanous place!" Unsurprisingly, Lily laughs cutely at Luan's amusingly horrible pun, right before she shouts, "Poo, poo!"

"Oh you've got another pun for your big sis?!" Luan asks with excitement in every word… only for a *plop* and a rancid smell to emanate from her, now used, diaper.

Luan then puts on a pained smile, before chuckling and speaking with a sincere, yet embarrassed, tone, "Oh, it really is just poo poo." She lets her expression soften, "Let's get you a new diaper huh Lilster." before walking back to the vanzilla to change her.

Meanwhile, Luna sits along the edge of the hillside, not as far up as Lori, but not too close the base either. Surprisingly, Lisa and Lucy sit by her as she strums away at her guitar, creating a beautiful melody with her non-electric instrument.

Surprisingly enough, Luna's really good at playing acoustic, despite the fact that nearly every other instrument she owns is electric-based.

It's rather amusing really; their parents had told the children that if they wanted to go to Aloha beach they had to pack light. This meant that the Loudest Loud in terms of capacity couldn't bring along her amps… or most of her guitars… or any instrument with the word "electric" in its name.

Though, despite the acoustic limitation, Luna is still able to create a beautiful melody. It's almost enough to remind one of those independent creators, working to create beautiful, soft beats to dance to.

"Ok Lucy, show me what you've got!" she shouts, her excitement contrasting with the Goth's usual downcast nature. Lucy responds by pulling out a small piece of folded paper, while carrying a sun umbrella with her free hand. She unfolds her poem quietly, before reading it aloud in a monotone voice. "Luna, the cold air fills our home. So for a while we've come down here for a short while. Don't go too far Luna."

Luna hesitates for a moment, as if trying to process exactly what Lucy had just said. Without another word, she turns to her second-youngest sister, "Lisa, how about you?"

The four-year-old takes a moment to respond, "Summer is a question you have to explain, because I don't see its allure. The more time you spend away from school, the more your intelligence dwindles. Simply put, I don't get it." Then she starts scribbling some random notes down in the small, light-green notebook she had bought from a gift shop.

"Hmm." Luna thinks for a moment, her eyes filling with the joy and determination of inspiration. She calmly pulls out a pic and declares. "That gives me an idea!"

Her soul fills with excitement as she readies her guitar. Then, she carefully whispers, "First a one, then the two, then the four then!" she starts strumming away, her guitar's soft beat serenading her siblings with a glowing melody. Then, after a few seconds of building the tone, she starts to sing, "We're the Louds and it's our summer to rock! We don't know what's going to come along, but you can count on us for something new! With a hundred and four days of summer vacation and school coming along just to end it! We'll spend it together, just us and the love of family!"

And just like that, she strums so hard that her guitar string breaks, slapping her hand away.

She rubs her hand while chuckling, "Now I remember why I hate acoustic. They always end up breaking up with me!"

"Haha!" The siblings go in response, surprisingly enough including Lisa and Lucy. Luan, in particular, grabs her snare drum, hits it twice, before hitting a rimshot, before giving a hearty laugh, "Great pun Luna!"

 _"I guess summer break's so fun that even the most disciplined and serious of us, can't help but sit down, relax and enjoy the show."_ Lori thinks, before taking a seat at the cliff head, under the beautiful tree. Her legs dangle lazily over the Cliffside, before she lies down on the cool grass next to the tree's base, letting the moist earth soak her short blonde hair with cool liquid.

On any other day she'd jump up and dust herself off, after all, she would want to look presentable. But hey, it's the short summer break before she heads off to college so why should she care?

After all, no one cares in college, so why should she? So, she lets herself relax for once, and just looks at her young siblings. In their hearts she could see their innocence, how open the world seemed to them. And yet, when they grew they would learn the harsh truth of their reality. The mere thought of their young joy fading away is almost enough to bring a tear to the elder's eye.

Yet, even Lori can't be that cynical all of the time. So for once, she puts her fears aside and decides to enjoy her time with her siblings.

Just in time too, despite the fact that she is looking at them-upside down, she can still see the amusing disaster that is about to unfold.

Lynn looks like she's about to charge at Leni, who is holding a soccer ball. Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens next.

 _"Should I stop them?"_ Lori asks herself, only to shake her head against the idea, _"Nah, they'll be fine."_

"Go!" Lynn shouts, before running at Leni, who responds by panicking and throwing the ball up in the air.

Now a completely sane person would stop and catch it, but none of the Louds are completely sane. So Lynn decides to punt it… into oncoming traffic.

"Aww, that was my last soccer ball!" Lynn whines, not noticing the unlucky driver swerving down the mountainside.

Despite her better judgment, morals, and basically everything she should have as the eldest sister, she counts the few moments it takes her to laugh. Ten seconds, that's a new record!

"Haha! Dangit you guys!" She shouts, desperately trying to hold back the tears, "Try not to cause too much trouble please, we're on vacation ya know!" Then she continues with a more nonchalant tone, "Anyways, back to whatever you were doing."

Their eldest sister being as calm as she is, takes them by surprise. Immediately Lisa runs over and pulls out a weird device. It proceeds to do some rather invasive tests, not to mention going in her shorts and pants and doing some… other things to collect samples. One should try their best not to think of it.

After a quick look over of the test results, Lisa concludes, "Yes girls, this is the real Lori all right!" before running back to whatever it was she was doing.

Everything seems to slow down at that point, as if the world the Louds know decides to relax for once.

That's when Lincoln decides to walk over and lie down on the grass next to her, "Hey Lori, you're surprisingly calm today, what's going on?"

She sits up and looks out, into the vast ocean beyond them. The cool blue waves crash upon the steep hill face; the young woman lets the feelings of calmness and bliss immerse her for a short moment, before responding, "I guess I just feel more relaxed here."

Then she turns to her only brother, his white hair glistens with the clear blue sky above; while his orange shirt provides a stunning contrast to it.

"Heh, I guess it's just surprising." He says, while turning to me, "Though, I shouldn't be as surprised, we are on summer break after all."

"Yeah," she responds, a tone of insecurity fills her voice. She is unsure if she should continue. Though, Lincoln is nice enough to continue for her, "Don't worry Lori, I'm sure college will be fine! Just don't procrastinate on those ten-page papers."

"How did you…" she starts, and Lincoln answers, "A brother's intuition."

"Heh…" she goes, before looking down at her stomach, _"I've felt weird ever since the last time I saw Bobby…"_

"Lori?"

She snaps back to reality, "Oh nothing… I'm just really worried that everything's changing so fast… I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep up." Then her voice fills with concern, "And what about you guys, what'll happen when I'm gone and-"

"Lori, don't worry about it." He takes her hand in his, "We'll be fine, no matter what happens. We're a family, and that's a fact."

So she sighs once more and leans into the grass again. "I just don't know…"

Her gaze becomes fixed upon the old tree at her side; its once green leaves have already started to change for the fall.

Then he playfully nudges her side, "Well then Lori, whenever you feel lost, afraid or just plain down, remember this song I heard." Then with the calmest voice he can muster he sings, "Remember the summers we spent up here, these hazy days are to remember!"

His voice fills with determination and hope, "It's where we watch the seasons change! With our family running here, all roads will lead to adventure! Though there may be mountains in the way, they won't keep us from the sea. Here we stand up together, holding arm in arm! There is a home, wherever we are!" Then his voice gains more momentum, before he finishes,

"And together we'll stand together in the eye of the storm, never letting one drift off!"

She smiles, as if the fears she had harbored for ages had finally set sail, "That was beautiful Lincoln. Where'd ya hear it?"

He pauses for a short moment, "I'm not going to lie Lori, I just came up with that." Then he sits up, with his arms bent and his body facing her, "But did ya like it?"

The young woman nods, "That was nice," then, she turns out to face the ocean again, her wet blonde hair now glowing in the sun's light. "I might keep it in mind." She then leans back, gazing passed the beautiful tree and into the wild blue yonder.

Lincoln responds by doing the same, "For what it's worth Lori, you're my favorite sister."

"Aww," she goes affectionately, "And you're my favorite sibling too." And with that, they smile at each other, before looking out into the calm blue ocean once again.

Lori whispers. "Where we watch the seasons change… heh" She lets a small, orange leaf drift into her soft hand. "All roads lined with adventure…"

About an hour later, Lori stands up and declares, "Ok Louds, it's time to go! Back in the car!"

She receives a collective, "Aww" in response. "Come on guys, it's been an hour! Mom and dad are going to be annoyed!"

With some groans, she manages to herd nine of her siblings back into the family van.

Before getting in the car last, Lincoln walks over with, "So Lori, did you-" When he suddenly loses his balance and fell into her arms.

"Lincoln! You ok?!" She shouts frantically.

He nods, "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired from lying on the hill."

"Ok then… get into the car." She responds nervously, while breathing a sigh of relief. _"The last thing we need is Lincoln getting sick."_

Though he does a bit, Lincoln finally gets in the car. And with that the eldest sister hops in and starts it up with, "Ok guys, let's get to it!"

After that, she hits the gas and starts the fifteen-mile trip towards the Aloha Beach Hotel.

"Hey Linc, you ok?" Lynn asks, and Lincoln responds with a tired tone, almost as if he had all of the energy sapped from him, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then he yawns. "Anyways I'm going to take a nap, mind waking me up when we get to the hotel guys?"

"Sure." Lori responds, making sure not to take her eyes off the road. _"Weird, I wonder why Lincoln did that…"_ she thinks for a moment, _"Could he be..."_ before shaking the thought from my head, _"Nah, he's fine!"_

The road ahead seems clear enough, no other cars or people. It looks like nothing can stop the Louds from enjoying this vacation!

Well, except for a road bump of course.

A few minutes of random, joy-filled gibberish emanates from the siblings, right before Lisa manages to surprise them all with, "Odd… These readings don't seem to make sense…"

"What do you mean Lisa?" Luna asks, "and what are those papers?"

Lisa folds them, before shoving the wad of random papers in her pocket, "Don't worry, they're nothing…" Her voice trails off worriedly, "It's nothing a poop study can't figure out."

Luan then cut in, "Hey, what are you hiding?"

"Guys! Don't fight in here! I'm driving and I need to focus on the road!" Lori orders, much to the young scientist's relief. "Though, Lisa."

The four-year-old looks up as she continues; "I want you to tell us about what you find odd. As in, extremely odd, not normal Loud odd."

Lisa quietly curses under her breath. Now, normally Lori would try to find out more, but just as she finishes talking, they pull up to the hotel.

Despite the fact that it's Aloha Beach in the summer time, there aren't that many guests staying the night in their hotel. You can probably guess who's to blame if they go out of business.

Just like earlier, Lori pulls the key out of the ignition, though she doubt it matters since the locks on the car are broken anyway, and it wouldn't take a genius to hotwire the old thing. Then again, who would want to steal a fifty-something year old van that pumps more CO2 into the ozone than China.

"Ok guys, head up to your rooms," The young woman orders, "meeting in my room tonight as well as plans for the trip home, got it?"

"Got it!" They all respond, before rushing out of the van without another word.

"Well that was easier than I thought." she thinks before stepping out of the van, *Groan*

She immediately reacts and turns back to the van, "Oh Lincoln! You ok bro?"

He responds by putting his hand on his head and rubbing his forehead, as if suffering from a headache.

"Lincoln!" she shouts, before running over and grabbing the boy out of his seat, "Don't play with me, are you ok?!"

He responds by panicking and rolling out of her arms, "Yeah! I'm ok!"

"You've been acting weird this whole week Lincoln, are you sure you're ok?"

He just nods, "It's nothing, don't worry about me Lori." Then he walks… or to be more accurate, painfully stumbles over to the hotel. "Lincoln!"

He stops and turns in surprise.

"At least let Lisa take a look at you ok?" She implores and he sighs, "Ok Lori, I'll see Lisa later."

And then he does his best to walk back into the small hotel.

With that, Lori looks up at the moonlit sky, for some reason, there are clouds rolling in, "Huh I guess the weatherman was wrong again. It's not supposed to rain for another week." Before she calmly walks over and follows her siblings.

The hotel is a simple building, exactly like what one would expect from a three-star hotel. Its simple design breathes of its cheap cost. It has hardwood floors and soft lighting. The walls have been given a simple plaster covering, most likely to protect the brick from whatever could attack it.

Lori calmly passes through the lobby, noting the tranquil air that greets her.

A few minutes later she's in front of her parent's room. She takes a lone breath, and prepares for the onslaught of anger. And with a final push, she knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" Lynn Sr. responds, his voice filled with the usual upbeat power.

"It's Lori!" the young woman responds.

A few moments later, the hotel door opens up… revealing Rita and Lynn Sr. carrying their suitcases, as if preparing to leave.

"Umm, why does it look like you're about to leave?" she asks, while tilting her head in confusion.

Her mother answers, "your father and I have to go, there's an important business meeting and dentist convention tomorrow!"

"So you're leaving us here?"

Lynn Sr. nods, "Yes sweetie, I need you to take the car and drive the kids back to Royal Woods ok? Because you came in late, we won't have the time to tell everyone we're leaving, so it's up to you to keep everyone in line till then."

"Wha…" Lori tries her best to understand what is happening right before her.

"Oh and by the way we've extended the reservations on your rooms for another three days. Have fun!" And without another word, her parents walk passed her, out of the room and down the hall.

"Well, I don't know how to react to that…" she whispers, before sighing, "Just my luck I guess…" Then she perks up, "No problem then, I'll just get everyone together and stuff.

And with that, she walks over to her sisters' rooms calmly. First Leni, then Lisa and Lily, after that she got Lana and Lola and Luan and Luna, leaving Lucy and Lynn last.

With everyone else collected, Lori leads the group over to Lincoln's unshared room.

"Lincoln!" She shouts while pounding at the old oak door, "Everyone else is waiting, what are you doing?"

No response.

Then she turns to Leni, "Pick the lock! This isn't like him."

Leni nods and uses a spare toothpick to pick the keycard-based lock… somehow.

The door flies open as the sisters standby, expecting to find their brother waiting for them, or simply getting ready.

Yet, that isn't the case.

"Lincoln!" The sisters shout as they rush into the room… only to find their brother lying down in his bed, rather peacefully as well.

*Yawn* "Oh, sorry Lori... I was just feeling really tired so I decided to lie down. Did I miss the meeting?"

The sisters breathe a sigh of relief, their usual protective instincts only held at bay only by his strong reassurances.

"No you didn't Lincoln." The young woman responds, "Ok then, let's have the meeting in here. Do you mind Linc?"

He shakes his head, "Nope, I'm ok with it." Then he turns and gets out of the soft bed. He stretches for a moment before reassuring, "See guys, I'm-"

Without warning, he tenses up, before falling back; causing him to hit his head on the nightstand, before falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Lincoln!" The sisters shout in a frantic frenzy, before Lori takes the young boy in her arms. "Lisa!" She shouts in a heavy panic, "Call 911! Now!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

And with that, the sisters rush out of the hotel room.

12-9-19-20-5-14 6-15-18 20-8-5 3-1-12-12-9-14-7 13-15-14-15-4-25.

 **A/N So anyways guys, I would really like your opinions on this story idea. Too sad? Unoriginal? Interesting? I would love to work on this story idea, but I'm currently hesitant because of what I've seen. If I get enough requests/encouragement to continue then I'll put the rest into production. If not, I'll just shelve it till I can come up with a better idea.**

 **Update: chapter has been edited entirely. Thanks to everyone who pointed out mistakes and encouraged me to continue this!**


	2. Keeping Things Calm

**A/N Hey guys, I'm glad so many of you liked the first chapter! Thank you for all of the encouragement and advice! I will do my best to make this story as well and unique as it can be! Also, Chapter 1 has been completely rewritten to fix the many errors that people mentioned. (The chapter was originally written in first person, and before I posted it, I swapped it to third, leading to 90% of the problems).**

 **And yes, I am aware that the basic premise is being used by an extremely popular story; the author of that one even encouraged me! And for that I am glad. Surprisingly enough though, his story didn't inspire me to write this story, it did however inspire me to change the prompt, and I thank him for that! I will do my best to do this premise justice!**

 **So, I hope you guys enjoy, R &R!**

Chapter 2: Keeping Things Calm

The waning moon glows brightly over the town, bathing it in its soft, milky rays. Of course, these are not enough to illuminate the night completely, that is where the majestic stars come in, augmenting the moon's light with their own shine. The nearby ocean reflects their rays, giving a beautiful glow to the clear, blue sea.

The silky smooth beaches are no longer crowded with tourists, though there are still some who choose to spend the night; maybe to save a decent chair spot, to party, or to find something hidden in the deep abyss of the twilight.

Yet, no matter what the reason, on a night such as this, all people have a reason to be where they are.

About one hundred feet away from the beach and accompanying boardwalk lies the sunset expressway, a small concrete highway designed so tourists would be able to move passed the more 'questionable' parts of town on their way to the resorts. For a moment, all seems calm in this small resort town. That is, until a siren passes by, shattering the night's grace with a warning call.

"Lincoln…" The young Lynn Loud whispers, her soft voice completely drowned out by the blaring speaker above them. "Come on… don't play with us. This is serious." Her quiet voice trails off weakly. She carefully takes her unconscious brother's hand in her own and continues, "Please be ok Lincoln, please…"

Her elder sister, Lori, places her warm hand upon Lynn's tense shoulders. Yet, the younger sister doesn't break her sight, instead choosing to stare at their brother, hoping for some sign that he is fine.

"Don't worry Lynn." Lori speaks with a soft, almost motherly tone, "He's our brother. He's had to deal with way worse after all." Her uncertain gaze falls upon the young boy, his body covered by an assortment of random cords and cables. _"At least, I hope so."_

For a moment, it seems as if Lynn is put at ease by the assertion. That is, of course, before she just holds onto his hand tighter. Salty tears begin to slow down her stainless cheeks as she whispers, "It's my fault… I must've done something to him that caused this…"

"Lynn, no." Lori places her arm around her sister, "This isn't your fault, don't think that it is."

The younger girl thinks for a moment, but does not answer. Instead, she chooses to stare into her brother's pained expression, hoping for a silent response.

"Everything is going to be all right…" Lori whispers into her sister's ear, before leaning away and sighing, as if unsure of the veracity of her own words.

The elder girl's thoughts seem to become a soupy mess in the pot that is her mind. Mere moments earlier, her parents had left her behind to watch her siblings. They had a calm vacation for the first time in ages. Lincoln seemed to be fine, albeit more exhausted than usual. The sisters had been well behaved to boot!

Yet, no matter how much she tries to recall the past few days, all of her thoughts bring her back to the same obvious questions, _"Why now? Why did Lincoln have to get knocked out right after our parents left? Right after I was put in charge? Why did this happen while we were on vacation? Why…"_

Though, even she knows that only a being from another world could even have a chance of answering those questions.

So instead of trying to give reason to acts without reason, she turns and peers out of the ambulance windows, though she does find it rather difficult, most of the port is obstructed by the medical star and the emblem on top- a white, wing staff with two snakes tied around it.

Lori takes a moment to focus, but she eventually she manages to get a small glimpse of the town passing them by.

The oversized street lamps illuminate the long, concrete strip the metal beast speeds down. To the ambulance's right, Lori can see the white sand beach that gave Aloha Beach its fame; the many soft lights giving it a life of its own.

To the ambulance's left are many of the non-beach attractions. The cheery and bright rides and games are almost enough to drown out the siren, ordering other drivers to get out of the way.

Directly behind the ambulance, are some slightly annoyed drivers, even one throwing a middle finger up.

If the sisters did not have more important matters to attend to, they would most likely turn the machine carrying their unconscious brother around, and assault them.

The young woman's gaze moves to the old man tending to her brother. His slightly brown hair breathes of an unquenchable energy, while its slight grey on the sides gives him air of experience. From what Lori can see, his skin is slightly tanned, no doubt the result of spending one too many hours out in the Aloha Beach sun.

His expression is filled with determination; the only reason he is not sweating is because of the overly cold air that fills the ambulance cabin. His uniform is almost as wrinkled as his face, as if he had worn it for multiple days and had grabbed it in the rush of the morning. Though, despite its mess, his uniform still seems to contain everything one would need to pass as an Emergency Medical Technician.

Yet, his precise movements and calm, though covertly serious, demeanor give him the air of an eerie tranquility. It is almost as if he would rather not be there, yet had gone along out of a strong sense of duty.

He moves carefully, examining the young boy's body with a care only a father would choose to give.

No matter what his reason for coming to work this day, it did not matter. What does, however, is that his soft, caring gaze is able to keep the panicked emotions of the two young women across from him at bay.

Lori's gaze moves towards the medical cabinets, filled to capacity with a random assortment of supplies. No doubt, this ambulance is designed to be a mini hospital. Though, such things would be more than enough to give her younger siblings nightmares if she were not careful. That is probably the reason why she had only allowed Lynn to come along; that, and that the ambulance is relatively small.

She spends the next few moments scanning the rest of the vehicle, from its cheap, red upholstery seats to the harsh light the emanates from the fluorescent lights, to even the vents, blowing cold air into the cabin.

Finally, her gaze falls upon the young boy and the doctor tending to his needs.

The middle-aged man gives a soft sigh as he attaches the final wire to the young boy's hand, before turning on another machine.

"Well girls, your brother is stable. I have a feeling he's going to be just fine." His voice is filled with a fatherly heat, almost as if he is trying to calm the young girls down. "Would you mind telling me what happened?"

Lynn remains silent, choosing instead to lean closer to her brother, while Lori pulls Lynn closer, as if trying to calm her down with sisterly heat.

The man sighs, "Heh, I'm not surprised." He whispers, before speaking louder, "Ya know, I've been an EMT for close to ten years now."

A soft, accepting air begins to fill the moving ambulance.

"I've seen many things." He continues in a more nonchalant voice, "Many people end up here. Now, of course, there are those weekdays where I don't get a call ordering me to come pick someone up, but most of time it's a full day's work."

The man leans back, against the cabin walls, before crossing his legs and continuing, "I've seen many things, many things… But ya know, if I could change anything, it would be spending more time with my family. Heh, I would-"

"Yo Arnold! Would you kindly stop trying to make small talk with patient families and actually do what you're supposed to? Ya know, like get their information!" The EMT's younger co-worker angrily shouts. The young man has brown hair with lighter skin than his partner. His uniform seems to have been freshly pressed, though it does not have nearly the same amount of equipment as Arnold's.

Arnold chuckles for a moment, before regaining his professional composure, "Ok youngster, I'll do my job." Then, he goes into one of the undercarriage bins and pulls out a small computer with a rubber casing. The old man takes more than a few moments to get the old thing set up, though he does eventually manage.

And with a professional tone he asks, "Would you two mind telling me what your brother's full, legal name is?"

The young sisters remain silent, their mind and gazes stuck to their brother.

With a sigh, Arnold leans over and gives Lori a soft shake, "I know you and your sister are really worried about your brother, but if you want us to help him, you're going to need to answer some questions."

Immediately, Lori flinches back to reality, "Huh, what?"

"I need you to focus." Arnold responds, "The only way we'll be able to help your brother is if you focus on what needs to be done." Then, he stares Lori directly in her eyes, "I need you to answer a few questions, please." The man's eyes gain a pleading feel to them, almost like a father asking for answers.

Lori then sighs, and with the demeanor of a reluctant leader she answers, "Ok, I'll answer everything that needs to be answered."

"Oh… ok then."

"I'm going to ask you a series of questions, many may be personal, and some may involve the patient. I want you to answer to the best of your ability, can you do that for me?"

Lori nods, "I will try…"

The man gives a soft, almost nostalgic smile before asking, "Ok, what is his full, legal name?"

The young woman hesitates, almost as if she had not spoken his name in ages, "Lincoln, his name is Lincoln L. Loud."

"Heh, added alliterative appeal much?" He jokingly whispers, before asking, "Ok, home address of current custodial parents or guardians? Also, names of your custodial parents or guardians."

Lori nervously answers, "Our parents are named Rita and Lynn Loud and we live at Twelve Sixteen Franklin Avenue, Royal Woods, Michigan."

"Upstate huh?" He nonchalantly quips, "It's been a bit since someone from up there ended up in my ambulance."

"Arnold! Don't say that! They're just flippin' kids!" The driver angrily shouts, but Arnold just continues on as if he hadn't said anything.

"Patient age?"

"He's eleven years old."

"Biological sex?"

Lori looks at him as if he had just asked the dumbest question ever posed, before she answers, "He was born a boy."

Then, Arnold hits the enter key on his computer, moving it to the next page, "Ok, with those formalities done, it's time for the more personal questions. Are you ok with sharing this personal information?"

For a second, Lori questions whether or not to speak, yet Arnold notices and says, "I know you're worried and feel a bit overwhelmed, but I need you to answer. If you don't feel comfortable answering, you can stop at any time. But just know that, the more we know the easier it'll be to find out what is going on with your brother."

Lori sighs and nods, "Ok, go on."

"First, does he have any allergies? Can he not take certain medications or eat certain things?"

The young woman shakes her head, while turning to her younger sister, "The only one with known allergies is Lisa, our second youngest sister.

"Ok, noted." Then continues in a more professional and commanding tone, "Does he take any medications? Either regularly or before he ended up unconscious?"

"Regular medication, no… I'm not sure about if he took anything before he passed out though… Maybe he got something from our parents…"

Arnold types "Unknown" into that box, before continuing, "Past illnesses, has this happened before?"

Lori shakes her head, and the man continues, "How about surgeries, or major hospital visits?"

"I'm not sure…" She thinks for a moment, "I think he had to get his appendix removed or something like that."

"Oh, so he had appendicitis?"

"No." Lori answers, before looking upon Lynn, who had not even noticed the conversation; "He got hit in the stomach by a ball in just the right place and ended up in the hospital."

"How about your siblings, have they ended up in the hospital for a disease or injury of some kind? Things like that can run in the family." Arnold quickly explains, as he types away.

The young woman's nervous expression gives way to a nostalgic smile for a short moment, "Yeah… with ten girls a lot can happen."

"Ten girls?! What is he like the only boy or something?!" Arnold shouts in surprise.

Lori nods, "Yeah…"

"Have your parents ever heard of condoms?" Arnold jokingly asks, as if attempting to lighten the mood, but to no avail. None of the Louds are amused.

"Ok then…" Arnold quickly continues, "When was the last time he ate? Maybe he passed out because he was hungry."

"That can't be it, we all ate Burpin' Burger before headed off to the hotel. That was like, three hours ago, and he ate the most out of all of us!"

An interested expression forms on Arnold's face, "How odd… ok, I'll move on. The last question I have for you is, what happened before he ended up knocked out?"

"Well…" Her voice gains more uncertainty, as if she herself could not believe what happened. "We were all gathered in his hotel room for a family meeting, and when he tried to stand up, he became really tense… almost like he had zoned out for a moment. And then he fell back and hit his head against the nightstand."

"I've heard ways for people to end up unconscious… but that's the first time that's happened to someone I've had to transport."

Lori and Lynn just look away in disappointment.

A few moments of silence pass while Arnold finishes typing in the information.

"Don't worry your little heads girls, everything is going to be just fine." The man then takes the computer and closes it, before placing it at his side. "After all, things could always be worse. Just imagine if-"

"Shut it Arnold!"

"Since when did you become my wife?" He immediately responds.

"Since you started talking and trying to lighten the mood! Seriously, you always do that and it never helps!"

Arnold just huffs in response.

"Besides, we're here, it's time to move the kid inside." The ambulance drives onto the lot in front of the old emergency room.

"Ok then, let's go." He declares, before turning to the two girls, "Ok, we're going to move your brother now, I need you to step off the ambulance ok?"

The two girls silently nod, before Lynn lets go of Lincoln's hand. Arnold disconnects the multiple wires that he had attached, and sets Lincoln up for movement.

And with that, the other EMT opens the back door and takes hold of the outer end of the gurney, Arnold responds by grabbing the inner end and saying, "Ok, on three. One, two, three!" And together, they move the unconscious boy out of the ambulance, lift up the stretcher, and place it on the lot.

Lori and Lynn look up at the hospital, its off-orange brick breathing of an age while the old windows speak of a modern touch. There's no hospital name plastered on the side however, giving the place a more mysterious vibe.

Wordlessly, the two EMT's wheel Lincoln inside, passed the check-in counter and into a room filled with random beds, filled with ghostly patients, its few beds are propped up against the stained walls, no doubt the workers have had little time to actually work on cleaning the place up.

The perks of a busy hospital are that the workers may know what they're doing, but maintenance tends to fall short.

"Ok Roger, I got his shoulders, you got his legs?" The old man asks, and his younger partner nods, "Ok move!"

And with one movement, they move the young boy onto the hospital bed.

With that done, Arnold turns to Lori once more, "Ok Ms. Loud, we're going to have to conduct some tests in order to find out what's going on with your brother. Since you are not currently his legal guardian, I will need you to get your parents on the line."

"Ok." Lori nods, while Lynn steps over and grabs onto Lincoln's hand once more, almost as if blaming herself for his current condition.

Then, she dials her parents' numbers… only to receive the answering machine both times.

"They're not answering…" She meekly declares. Arnold thinks for a moment, "Well then, until they answer, you're his medical proxy."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're going to be making his medical decisions for now, do you at least have your insurance-"

*Groan* "Ugh, what happened?" Lincoln asks as he sits up in the hospital bed, "Where am I? And why does my head hurt?"

A shocked air fills the room around the EMT's and sisters, before Lynn shouts, "Lincoln! You're ok!" and with that, she jumps up and grabs her brother, "Don't worry me like that!"

Lori smiles and joins in the hug.

"Huh, well that's convenient." Arnold quips, before walking away and motioning for Lori to follow.

He leads her over to the nearby nursing station and starts, "Ok, seeing as he's conscious, we're going to run some tests, and hopefully everything will go smoothly. If everything's fine, he should be done by dawn."

Lori nods and gives a sigh of relief, "So you need our insurance correct?"

He nods.

"Ok, our-" Lori starts, only for Lynn to shout, "Lincoln?! Lincoln!"

The young woman rushes out of the small compartment and shouts, "Someone help! Something's wrong!"

Immediately, Arnold and Lori rush in and find Lincoln shaking wildly in his bed, his eyes were rolled back, and he wasn't responding.

"I need some sedatives over here!" Arnold commands, before ordering, "Roger, get those girls away!" The younger EMT, though shocked, responds by grabbing the girls and pushing them away, while other nurses run inside the curtain.

The sisters can only hope that their other siblings are doing better.

 _Meanwhile…_

"Guys!" Luna Loud angrily shouts, "I need you all to be quiet!"

A nervous air flows through Luan and Luna's hotel room, the small space now crammed with eight sisters.

"What's going on?!" Lola shouts.

"I don't know sis." Lana responds, while Luan continues, "Well, I guess we'll have to take a pun to find out!"

Leni sits on the floor and crosses her legs, "Like, what's happening Luna?"

Luna growls in anger, "Guys! Shut up!"

Yet, her siblings continue to ramble on in confusion, much to Luna's dismay.

Finally, with her frustration building, Luna grabs her acoustic guitar and hits it against the hotel wall. Good thing Luna had reinforced the neck, or else it may have broken in half.

Immediately, her seven siblings quiet down, leaving an air of uncertainty in their wake.

The young woman pants for a moment, "Ok, before we go on, we'll need a headcount."

"Luan!" Luna calls out, and the comedian responds, "Hiya!"

"Lola and Lana?"

The twins simultaneously respond, "We're here."

"Leni and Lily?"

"Like, I'm here." The older sister responds, while the baby shouts, "Poo poo!"

"Lisa?"

The young scientist raises her pencil, before continuing to write in her small notebook, "I'm here."

With that, Luna breathes a sigh of relief, "Ok good, we're all here."

"You forgot me!" Lucy declares as she appears at her rock star sister's side."

Luna flinches away in surprise, "Oh right sis, sorry." Then, she recomposes herself and takes a deep breath, "Ok guys, as you all know, Lincoln had to be taken to the hospital, and because it's late and we all couldn't cram ourselves into the ambulance, we Lori and Lynn went, while leaving me in charge." Her voice is filled with the tone of an unsure leader.

"Now, I'll take any questions you may have."

For a few minutes, an eerie silence overtakes the crowded room, with none of the siblings willing to start.

Yet, eventually, Lola raises her hand, nervously of course. "Will Lincoln be ok Luna?"

" _Of course that's the first thing she asks."_ Luna mentally slaps herself before sighing and answering in the most serious tone she can muster, "Of course Lola, he's going to be fine. He probably just passed out from exhaustion or something." Luna puts on a reassuring smile, "Don't worry guys."

Lisa then finishes writing in her notebook and closes it with a hard slam, "Do not worry siblings, modern science has progressed to the point where, if there is something wrong with our brother, we will probably know by tomorrow."

"But what if there is something wrong Lisa?" Lana speaks up, and Leni responds, "Like, what if it's something crazy too?!"

"Poo poo…" Lily goes sadly, tears starting to fill her young eyes.

"Guys! Calm down!" Luna shouts.

*Knock* *Knock*

Luan immediately jumps up and declares, "I'll get it!" before walking over to the door and opening it, revealing a small maid, still in her work uniform.

The old woman takes a quick glance in side the room and responds, "Please keep it down, other guests are trying to sleep."

"No problem." Luan cheerfully responds, before promptly slamming the door in the maid's face.

A few moments of awkward silence pass, before Lisa stands up and declares, "I believe it would be in all of our best interest to inform our parents of this development. Do you agree Luna?"

A surprised beat passes.

"Wait… no one told mom and dad about Lincoln?!" Luna shouts in surprise. "Lisa, take Lucy and make sure they know!" She through her arms up in frustration, "Lincoln got taken away and no one bothered to tell mom and dad?!"

Almost immediately, the crowd returns to their random chatter, their nonsensical blabber filling the room with more confusion. "Guys! Be quiet! This is important!"

Yet, her panicked siblings simply ignore her commands and continue talking. Luna's face goes red, before she snaps, drops her British accent and shouts, "Would you guys just shut up! Lincoln's in the hospital right now and Lori's not around to take charge! Now shut the heck up! I need to keep things together until I can get Lori, mom or dad to take over!"

Immediately the siblings quiet down, as if stunned by Luna's seldom used natural voice. Luna then points at Lucy and Lisa, "I need you two to go get mom and dad. It's important that they know where Lincoln, Lori and Lynn are. Hopefully, they can help us out here."

The two children nod as she continues, "And be careful, I don't need anyone else going to the ER tonight." And with that, the duo stands up and walk out of the now tense hotel room.

Then, Luna turns to her remaining siblings with, "The rest of you are going to wait in silence, until they come back. Is that clear?" The remaining six siblings nod in agreement.

With her sisters pacified for the time being, Luna utters a defeated sigh, and plops down on her bed. A few moments of tense silence overtake the young Louds. To think that just a few short hours ago they were having the time of their life on summer vacation… and now, they're brother had been taken away in an ambulance, and they were left with little in the way of guidance.

It seems as if uncertainty is the only thing holding these family members together. That of course isn't true, they have other things the bind them. The family connections that hold them together even in the most tense of circumstances; in other words, their Sibling's Bonds.

After a few moments, Luna takes a deep breath. Her anxiety begins to come down upon her like a tidal wave. She takes a deep breath, her feelings of defeat emanate from her vacation-weary body, "Twenty minutes in charge and I've already had to go full queen of no just to keep everything from falling apart."

She lets her body go limp as she stares at the ceiling, _"No wonder Lori has to be a dictator to keep us in line! But why did Lori decide to put me in charge? I'm the middle child of the top five! If anyone should be in charge, it's Leni!"_

Leni gets out of the nearby chair and steps over to Luna. "You ok Luna? You seem really tense." Her voice is filled with a motherly energy, almost as if she knows why Lori had left Luna in charge.

"Yeah!" Luan goes, as she grabs her dummy, "It's not like you!"

Luna chuckles, "Don't worry, it's just my anxiety going off, after all this is the first time I've been put in charge of anything!" she begins to curl up in a fetal position, "I don't know if I can handle it."

"Don't worry Luna! You'll be fine!" Lola declares, albeit with an uncertain tone.

"After all, you know how much of a handful we are!" Lana continues

"Hey guys…" Lucy suddenly appears in the room again, "Our parents are missing!"

"What?!" The six sisters shout in surprise. Lisa walks in after her, "it is true, it seems that our parents have left the premises and are currently away."

"What are we going to do?!" Leni nervously asks, " Without them around, we can't do anything!" And with that, the Louds begin to live up to their name, as they fill the hotel room with random, panicked chatter.

"Guys! Quiet!" Luna commands, but to no avail once more. Out of frustration, she grabs her damaged guitar and hits it against the wall once more, a poor kitten meows in response.

"Ok guys, there isn't much we can do right now but wait, ok?" Luna desperately declares, "So as the person in charge for the night, I order you all to go to bed.

With a few nervous and annoyed grumbles, the sisters comply and leave the hotel room, leaving Luna and Luan behind.

Luna sighs once more, before turning and stepping out onto the nearby hotel balcony. She hesitates for a moment, before leaning against the bar and gazing out into the night sky, "I hope you're ok Lincoln."

3-18-15-19-19 20-8-5 18-9-22-5-18 12-5-20-8-5 1-14-4 6-15-12-12-15-23 20-8-5 19-21-14-19-5-20

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! I thank LovecraftFan and Exotos135 for looking over this! Also, since I really want to make this story the best I can make it, and because I have more than a few reasons to wait to post the next chapter, I'm planning on placing this story on hiatus for the next 5 months while I write the rest of it out… Though I may post sooner if I get enough requests to do so.**

 **Also, I really would like to hear what you guys think. Do you think there was too much description? Too little? What do you guys think is wrong with Lincoln? Was this chapter worth the wait?**


	3. Sleepless In Beach City

**A/N Well… I'm back with chapter 3! Treat this as my Christmas Gift to all of you who support this story, despite the stuff behind it. To be honest, I expected more backlash and flames for even considering writing this, but you all have been so nice! And so, to tide you over for the next (few) month(s), I've decided to let my mind wander and let the chapters end up longer! This one clocks in at about 10k, the longest I've ever written!**

 **So I thank you all! I hope you enjoy chapter 3! As always, R &R!**

Chapter 3: Sleepless In Beach City

Midnight in Aloha Beach is truly a sight to behold. Over by the seashore, the gentle summer waves push forward against the sand bars that hold their immense strength back. To many, their argument is like a soothing song, one of the many beautiful lullabies the Earth gives to its children.

On a calm night, such as this, the majority of the townsfolk have drifted off to the lands of unknown wishes, of the hopes and desires that they harbor… though very few of them, if any, will come to fruition.

Yet, there remain those restless souls that have chosen to continue whatever tasks they have set their sights upon. The Loud children are among those people.

A few yards away from the ocean rests the quiet hotel, its rooms now partially empty due to a certain group of people calling it home for the passed two weeks. Its empty hallways are filled by a soft tranquility, unsurprisingly however; this is broken by the time one comes within sound range of the Loud family.

Inside the calmest room, Lisa sits at the hotel desk; her eyes fixed firmly upon the dim screen as she checks her readings once more.

"This is… strange." She declares calmly, "These fecal samples seem to be high in estrogen and progesterone…" Her mind races through the possibilities with a small panic, "Lori… why is your excrement so high in hormones when, just last month, they were mostly consistent with my previous readings?"

With a soft sigh, she returns the vial labeled, "Lori" to its resting place and picks up another, this one labeled, "Lincoln."

"As for you Lincoln…" She checks the readings quietly, "your excrement hasn't changed in the slightest… no increased waste product, no toxins, no signs of external illness." The four-year-Old's voice fills with a frustration known only to scientists, "This dilemma is like someone trying to mix pure sodium and water and nothing happening.

She leans back, against the cheap chair in defeat, "There has to be something I'm missing. But what variable could I have forgotten about?" With a heartfelt sigh, she looks around her mostly empty hotel room. Just like home, she has to share her room with Lily. Not a problem though, as she is used to the constant smells and crying.

"I wish I were home, then I might be able to at least try and decipher what is happening." She takes a quick glance at her shoddy set up, made in the haste of the vacation.

She would have brought more had she known that Lincoln would have an incident.

"Just a simple computer and meager tools to analyze these samples are not enough it seems." With a soft push, she gets out of her chair and begins to pace, "But I can't just stand around while my male sibling may have a severe condition. What kind of sister would I be if I did that?"

"Poo-poo!" Lily shouts, "poo-poo!" Snapping Lisa back to reality with a small gasp.

"Huh? Oh, right…" She mutters calmly, before stepping over to the infant's crib, "Now that I think of it, I have not thought of where our parental units have gone off to… I'm worried we may need their guidance soon. Why did they suddenly leave? Where did they go?"

That is when infant begins to cry, "Poo-poo! Poo-poo!"

Lisa lifts her sister carefully and cradles her in her soft arms, "There, there Lily, everything is going to be all right."

"Waaa!" She continues to cry, much to Lisa's dismay. "Dangit, what am I going to do about Lily? Without our parents around, who could possibly…" then, an idea comes to her, and she turns and bolts out of her room and into the hall.

 _"Now which room was it again?!"_ Lisa thinks frantically, as she bounces desperately to calm her infant sister down. Her eyes scan the empty hallway, if she couldn't get a handle on Lily's condition soon, people would start to complain… more than they already have been, _"Which…"_

Then the realization hits her, _"Our rooms are oriented in the exact same way they were at home, with Lincoln's room between mine and Lily's and Lori and Leni's!"_ with that desperate thought in mind, she runs over to the door, pounds on it, and shouts in desperation, "Leni! Lily needs you!"

"Coming!" The ditzy girl answers, before the incumbent eldest sister opens the door. She has exhausted bags under her eyes as well as a green nightshirt on, while the sunglasses use usually wore have been replaced by the eye cover she always uses.

Despite her exhausted appearance, even she can't help but smile when she sees her younger sister, "Hey Lisa! What brings you here?"

Lisa stares at her sister in annoyance. If Lily were not crying in her arms at that moment, she would probably face palm. After the initial shock wears off, Lisa answers with a soft and slow voice, "Leni, our parents are currently absent from the premises and I need you to make sure our youngest sibling remains unharmed and attended to."

Leni tilts her head in confusion.

"I need you to take care of Lily, you're the only one who-"

"Oh!" Leni responds in realization, "I can do that!" and without another word, she takes the baby from her sister and cradles her in her soft, caring arms, "Aww, so cute!"

And before Lisa is able to say anything else, Leni slams the door in her face.

"Well ok then…" Lisa whispers, before adjusting her glasses and turning away from the room, _"At least Lily was changed before our parental units disappeared, probably at least. There should be no incidents involving her diaper tonight."_ Then with a sigh she walks away, _"Now back to work on Lincoln's medical mystery."_

" _But what can I do? I don't have anything to analyze besides the poop he provided…"_ With uncertain eyes, the scientist scans the hallway around her, hoping for a clue of some kind to guide her way. Yet, to no avail.

With a soft sigh, she declares, "Maybe there is something of value in his room… It may not have as much as back home, but I can still try to find something." Before she turns to face the hotel room Lincoln had called home for the passed weeks.

Then, with gentle touch, she places her hand on the door. "If only I had the key card…"

She expects the door to stand firm, guarding against any that would dare attempt to intrude upon its occupants. Yet, much to the young scientist's surprise, the door opens slightly.

 _"What the…"_ She thinks in surprise, before pushing harder, causing the supposedly locked door to open up, revealing the once clean room as a chaotic jumble of random articles of clothing and trinkets, as well as Lana and Lola rummaging through the mess.

"Come on Lana!" Lola shouts in frustration as she desperately claws into a small pile of clothing, "There has to be something that we can use to help Lincoln!"

"Yeah, yeah," Lana begrudgingly responds, "I'm looking Ms. Prissy Pants! It's not like you're helping much! This is a hotel room after all!"

" _Well this is a… strange turn of events."_ Lisa steps carefully into the maelstrom of belongings that the twins had turned Lincoln's room into, before she greets, "Umm, what are you two doing in here?"

Immediately, the twins stop what they are doing and turn to her.

A dreadful air fills the room with that, as if the twins had not expected to be caught in an act that the Loud sisters generally understood was off limits.

Lola stammers, "Uhh, we were just-"

Only for Lana to cut her off, "Lola, don't lie, it's pretty obvious what we're doing." Before she turns to Lisa and answers, "We were lookin' for something that we could use to figure out what's wrong with him…" Then she points at Lola, "It was her idea."

"Hey!" Lola shouts defensively, before she points at Lisa, "Now tell us what you're doing in here!"

Lisa calmly adjusts her glasses and softly responds, "The door was open and…" She looks away, while nervously poking her fingers.

"And what?" Lola aggressively asks.

She takes a sigh, "I too wish to search for something that could help me discern our male sibling's present condition." Then, with gentle movements, she begins to trudge through the mess of random belongings, "So I have decided to commandeer his underpants and toiletries."

"Well… ok then." Lana flatly responds, "Just don't make a bigger mess than us."

And with that, the younger girl forces her way through the piles of clothing and approaches a toppled suitcase. She produces a set of blue plastic gloves, and pushes the bag on its back, causing the messy contents to fall back into their confines. Then, with slight disgust, she grabs a lone set of Lincoln's underwear, as well as his toothbrush, before she declares, "If anyone needs me, I will be analyzing these in my room. Please, do not disturb me tonight."

Then, she steps out of the room carefully, leaving Lola and Lana behind to continue their own mission.

"Huh, well that was unexpected." Lola whispers, "I've never seen her go this far to find something out before."

Lana playfully punches her twin's arm, "Nah Lola, have you seen what she's done to find a cure for the common cold?"

The younger twin thinks for a moment, and nods, "Yeah, I guess you're right… But I've never seen her so… confused and unsure and stuff."

"Well…" Lana starts, but finds herself unable to continue causing a harsh silence to overtake the room.

Lana then sighs, "Well, do you at least know what we should be looking for? You know what mom and dad said about being in Lincoln's room when he's not around." Her soft voice echoes in the quiet room.

Lola nods, "Yeah! Of course I know we're not supposed to be invading our brother's privacy, but we just have to find something, anything that can help him. We can't just sit around doing nothing!" she looks away, with her voice becoming more unsure and downtrodden, "There has be a reason why Lincoln fell and hurt himself! There just has to!"

"Lola…" Lana's voice trails off. It's as if hearing her twin's concern was… off-putting to her. As if the mere thought of Lola Loud caring for someone other than herself was an act worthy of praise.

With uncertainty filling her spirit, she places a soft hand on her diva twin's shoulder, "Lincoln's going to be fine. Lisa said so remember?"

"But that was before she stated running tests! Even she can't seem figure out what's wrong with him now!" Lola shouts frantically, "If our genius sister can't figure it out, than what makes you think some random doctors can?!"

"Because…" Lana starts, but find herself unable to continue. Instead, she stands awestruck for a moment, unsure of how to answer her twin.

Lola slaps Lana's hand off her shoulder, "I'll check the cabinets, how about you check the closet?"

Lana nods in defeat, before she turns and waddles through the mess and over to the closet. An unsure expression begins to form on her face, her sweat begins to break throw the fabric barrier of her hat, while her eyes remain fixed on the floor.

A few moments later, she grabs hold of the door and pulls, though she finds difficultly in opening it because of the mess. A fierce determination overtakes her, _"I don't know why I'm doing this, but for Lincoln I'll do it!"_

Lana jumps onto the door handle and using her whole body to push against the door, she forces it open… as well as causes herself to crash into a pile of dirty orange shirts.

Immediately, Lola stops rummaging and to rushes to her twin's side, "Lana, are you ok?!"

Lola grabs hold of her twin's arm, and quietly begs, "Please be all right. I can't lose you too Lana…"

"Lola!" She shouts in annoyance, "Lay off! What's gotten into you anyway?!" she pushes herself out of the pile with relative ease, though Lola holding onto her arm does help.

Lana continues with a more annoyed tone, "We're not even supposed to be in here! Why are you acting like it's the end of the world?!"

"Because our brother is hurt! You uncaring twat!" Lola responds, her anger building, "Because I want to make sure that he's going to be all right! Why do you not care about him?!"

"You think I don't care?" Lana stares Lola directly in her eyes, "I care just as much as you do, but wrecking Lincoln's hotel room and searching for nothing isn't going to help him get better and screaming at me isn't going to help us!" Then, she breaks eye contact and approaches the closet, "Go do whatever you think is important and don't drag me into it."

Then, Lana jumps onto the unfolded clothes rack and begins to search the closet. Of course there is nothing out of the ordinary, just the multiple sets of ironed orange polo's that Lincoln always brings with him whenever he goes on vacation.

"There's nothing here, just like I thought." Lana declares with a soft, expecting voice, before she turns to her sister with furious eyes, "Like I said, there's nothing we can do right now Lola. We have to take Luna's advice and just wait."

In frustration, Lola shouts "Move out of the way!" before she climbs onto the rack with her twin, only for the old metal rack to snap under the two children's weight, causing both of them to fall.

Lola is the luckier of the two, landing on the soft carpet of the closet, while Lana lands on the shards of the broken metal rack, and accidently hits her head against the closet wall.

"Ugh…" Lana rubs her aching head, "What the heck just happened?"

"Lana!" Lola frantically twists and crawls over to her twin in fear, "Are you hurt?! Do I have to-"

"Lola, what's gotten into you?" Lana pushes her off, "You never worry this much. This isn't like you at all!"

Lola looks away shamefully, "I… I…" Her voice trails off nervously, leaving nothing but a quiet void in the closet between them.

"Lola…" Lana hesitates for moment, before placing a comforting hand on her twin's shoulder, "You don't have to hide from me remember? We were born together." Then, she turns Lola softly, to face her once more, "Please, tell me why you're doing all this for him."

"Ok…" Lola sighs in defeat, "I think I had something to do with this…"

Lana tilts her head in confusion, "What? Why?"

"Well…" she awkwardly taps her fingers together, "I've mistreated him, exhausted him and have just been mean to him all summer." She then looks away, "I'd be more surprised if I wasn't involved with… you know."

Lana can see tears begin to flow down her twin's cheeks, while she works desperately to hide them.

The older twin's body loosens up with that, as if she is unsure of what else to say.

Wordlessly, Lola stands up and turns away, "I'm sorry…"

An eternity of silence passes between the two girls.

Then, she walks away from her twin and begins to trudge through the mess they had made together.

"Lola…"

And with that, Lana shakes her head and jumps onto her feet, "Lola."

"Huh?" She responds, desperately trying to hide her tear-filled eyes.

"I know you're worried. And I know that you want to help him." She grabs Lola's arm, "But messing his room up isn't going to do anything to help him."

Lola looks away in shame once again.

Yet, her sister places a soft hand on her cheek and turns her gaze back, "Come on Lola. Let's clean up this mess." Lana's voice gains a soft comfort, "Then after that, how about we get some chocolate ice cream to get our minds off of him?"

Lola hesitates for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "Ok Lana… I guess you're right…" Her voice is unsteady, as if trying to hold herself back from continuing her search.

"Good, now let's clean this place up." Lana declares softly, before walking over to a messy pile and pulling away an orange shirt, revealing a light orange book, its soft cover tattered with random marks.

"Wow…" She whispers, "Hey Lola, I found something."

"What?!" Lola shouts in surprise, before running over to her twin, "Give it here!"

"Calm down Lola." Her twin responds, with her hand holding her twin at bay. She calmly opens the book with her free hand and reads aloud, "Property of Lincoln Loud…"

Lola stops and instead comes over to Lana's side.

"May second… Hi, my name is Lincoln Loud, and since I found out that my sisters would be too busy to listen to me sometimes, they suggested I start writing in a journal. I hope that someone doesn't read this or else I could have a sistornado on my hands."

With that read, Lana closes the book. "Lola… this is Lincoln's Diary…"

For a moment, she hesitates.

"You know that we shouldn't read it, but…" Lana hesitates, unsure if she should keep the unspoken promise of diaries. Lola on the other hand grits her teeth and steels herself, "Lana… I know that we shouldn't, but we have to."

"Promise me then Lola."

"What?"

Lana turns to Lola, her soft blue eyes all too familiar to her twin, "Promise that we will only use what we find in this book to help Lincoln, please."

Lola is taken aback for a moment. Lana has never asked for something as drastic as this. Lola Loud is the master of blackmail, no matter whom it was against.

Yet for Lincoln, she had an exception.

"For Lincoln." Lola calmly nods. "I'll keep it secret."

"For Lincoln." Lana responds, before pulling the book close to her chest, "Let's go read this back in our room then… we'll fix this place up later."

Lola nods in agreement, "Ok. Let's go."

And with that, the two twins turn and trudge through the mess they had made, before they leave the cheap room and walk over to their own.

Passing the room of the incumbent eldest sister as they do so.

* * *

Leni sits on her bed, with the young Lily resting in her arms. Her soft, motherly gaze falls upon the resting child, "Finally… she's stopped crying." Leni takes a deep breath to relax, "Thank goodness Lisa came in or else she'd be going off all night."

She had put her sunglasses back on and changed out of her nightshirt, just in case she would have to run out and run some obscure errand.

"Poo-poo!" Lily shouts. "Poo-poo!"

"You hungry Lily?" Leni affectionately asks, before quietly resting the infant on the bed, "I'm sure I can whip up something with the leftovers…"

"Poo-poo." Lily responds, shaking her head as she does so.

Leni looks at the baby in confusion, "Oh, so you're not hungry."

Lily nods, "Goo!"

"Now Lily, you know only Luan is able to speak baby… I think."

Lily face-palms, before calmly looking around the room; it takes her a few moments, but eventually her she spots a small orange towel resting on the nearby chair.

"Goo!" she goes in excitement, while pointing and spouting random baby gibberish.

Leni picks Lily up with that, and walks over, "Oh, so you want your blankie?"

Lily shakes her head, "Link-y!"

"Link-y?" Leni takes a moment, "You want Lincoln?"

She nods, "Link-y! Link-y!"

"You want to know about Lincoln huh…" A feeling of dread overtakes the young woman. What could she possibly tell Lily? Even if Lily's smarter than others, how would she react to the idea that Lincoln is currently away, and no one knows what's going on with him? For a moment, Leni considers changing the topic, but what could she possibly say? A better question would be, could she understand what's going on with him?

And so, with a defeated sigh, she whispers, "Don't worry Lily, your brother's just really tired right now. You'll see him tomorrow ok?" Her voice is filled with motherly warmth, as if she is trying to lie to herself as well.

For a moment, Lily remains silent, her young mind trying to process Leni's words. Yet, even she can tell when something is off, and the infant begins to tear up.

"No, no Lily!" Leni shouts in desperation, "Please don't cry!"

 _"Where are mom and dad?! I can't handle Lily on my own! I've done stuff with her before, but that's not enough to keep her calm!"_ Leni's mind races, rushing passed old problems and their solutions as she searches desperately for the answer she craves, _"How did mom put Lincoln to bed when he wouldn't stop crying?!"_

Then an idea comes to her.

With the Lily beginning to tear up, Leni takes a single deep breath and sings in desperation, "Hide and seek, living the dream! Spending time in the light of the sun! These are the days that we make our own, and though we may be far apart, know that your family will always be there for you!"

Lily's attention is diverted for a moment, before she puckers up once more, and begins to cry.

"Dangit, it didn't work!"

Leni thinks quickly once more, and continues to bounce in desperation, but Lily would not relent.

Finally, Leni slows down, and takes one more deep breath. "I have to calm Lily down."

And so, with a soothing, motherly tone she sings, "Remember the summers we spent up here, these hazy days are to remember, with our family gathered here, the whole world is open to all adventure; Here we stand up in arms, with home wherever we are. And though we may be a thousand miles and poles apart, know that we will always be together in heart."

Lily's cries turn to soft whimpers, before dying down completely.

Leni takes a deep breath in relief, _"Phew, I managed to do it… I can't believe it worked, but it did."_

"Feeling better Lily?" Leni nervously asks, making sure to bounce her baby sister affectionately.

"Poo-poo."

"How about we look at the beach? My room has a great view after all!"

Lily thinks for a moment, before nodding, "Goo!"

"Haha." Leni smiles, before she walks over to the balcony and looks out, into the calm night. The waning moon's glow illuminates the night sky like a gentle song, with the stars acting as its chorus.

"You like it Lily?" She quietly asks, and the baby nods in agreement.

"When I was younger I used to rest up on the roof with…" Leni's voice is filled with nostalgia, "Li- Lori. She always loved watching the stars."

Lily turns to her with an avid skepticism. For a moment it seems as if Lily is going to start crying again. The air around them fills with tension. Yet, the infant relents, and instead turns and gazes into the beautiful night as well.

Lily then points at a random star cluster and shouts, "Poo-poo!" And then another while shouting more, random baby gibberish.

The older girl stands by, simply cradling her in her arms. For a moment, she thinks of responding to Lily's randomness, yet she decides against it. _"Heh… she reminds me of Lincoln when he was her age. So full of life and so full of dreams…"_

"Lincoln…" Leni whispers. She uses her arm to move her sunglasses over her eyes, before tears begin to flow, "Lincoln… what happened to you? Why did you fall and hurt yourself? Why did you have to be taken away? Why…"

"Poo-poo…" Lily sadly goes, before trying to kiss her sister.

Leni puts on a pained smile for her infant sister, "No, no, it's all right Lily… Everything is going to be all right." A fearful air engulfs her, her usual upbeat exterior slowly fading into the abyss that is uncertainty. "Don't worry… Like, everything, absolutely everything, is going to be all right.

"Link-on?" The baby looks up at her sister with pleading eyes, begging for an answer she does not have.

"He's going to be fine Lily, he's just tired ok? He's going to be all right." She then adds an affectionate head rub as she says so, "Don't you worry your little head sis."

Then Leni looks up, out into the moonlit sky, her body feels strong, yet her spirit feels weak, as if she is pushing herself to believe something that she does not know is true or not, "He's going to be fine. I just know it."

Yet, even she can't help but hold onto a sense of dread, as if something is not right in her familiar world.

For a few minutes, everything remains silent, with the two sisters gazing up into the night sky, hoping, praying that they would soon return to the life they knew well.

In their hearts, they both know that something, something important was different about this. Sure, with eleven children running about the home, trips to the emergency room were not uncommon. Yet, to Leni, this accident seemed off. She had witnessed it first hand, the boy tensing up suddenly, only to fall and hit his head against a nightstand.

 _"Why…"_ Leni desperately thinks, _"Did I do something? Why is Lincoln suffering in a hospital and I can't even find out what's going on with him?"_

She holds Lily closer, as if attempting to look to the infant for comfort, but to no avail, "Lincoln…"

And with that, soft tears begin to flow down Leni's fragile face once more, only this time Lily doesn't notice.

After a few tense moments of silent thought, Lily turns in Leni's arms and with a smile only a child can muster, shouts, "Poo-poo!"

"You've got something you want to tell me?" Leni asks with excitement filling her voice. "Something that can get my mind off… him."

Lily nods softly, before a soft "plop" and a rancid smell emanate from her diaper.

"Heh, I guess I know who needs a change right now!" She affectionately responds, before turning and walking back into her hotel room.

 _"There should be spare baby food and diapers in Lisa's room… I hope she's found out what's going on"_

With a soft, mother-like grace, she steps out of her room and walks over Lisa's, passing that of the uncertain leader and the comedian.

* * *

Luan fiddles with the ventriloquist's dummy resting on her arm. For a few, uncertain moments she hesitates, unsure of what to practice. Yet, with a passive sigh she whispers, "Ok, this should cheer anyone up."

Luan takes a deep breath, before she stands up and walks over to her sister. The young rock star leans over the balcony railing, as she simply watches the countless aloha beach cars drive by unimpeded… their oddly soothing beat calming her down, if only for a short moment.

"Hey Luna!" Mr. Coconuts greets in excitement, "Why the pouty face? Come on lighten up! Things could always be worse, woman in charge!"

Luna looks away from the dummy, before she responds flatly, "Go away Mr. Coconuts, this isn't the time for bad puns. You know that as well as I."

Yet, Luan doesn't give up, and pushes the dummy closer to her, "Aww, you sure you don't want to talk about it much? Come on, it'll be good for you!"

"Go away." Luna backhands the dummy, causing it to fly across the hotel room. "I just need a moment to myself." Her voice wavers, filling with a fear unknown to the relaxed sister.

Luan turns to her, now injured, ventriloquism assistant and thinks, _"Wow, Luna's going off the rails. What's going on with her?"_

"Hey Luna, what do you call a meat that's not sick?" Luan does her best to put on a smile as she finishes, "A cured meat!"

 _"I hope Lincoln doesn't end up as simply cured meat…"_ Luna's confused thoughts cloud her mind, causing her to ignore the pun.

Luan continues, her voice becoming more desperate, "Hey, why don't hotels have both bells and air conditioners in the summer?!" She then leans closer to her sister, desperately trying to get her confused attention, "Because then they'd have to call it bell-air rooms!"

" _That pun was worse than the first…"_ Luna thinks, still not letting her gaze break from the traffic only a few yards away from her balcony perch.

"Umm…" Luan nervously goes, before quickly scanning the parking lot in front of her. After a few short moments of searching, her eyes come to rest on a resting bird. " _That gives me an idea!"_ She thinks, before speaking, "Summer was horrible for Humpty Dumpty, but he had a great fall!"

Luna smirks, "That actually wasn't that bad. Lincoln would've loved to hear it…" Her small smile returns to a frown, before she whispers, "Lincoln…"

Luan gives a defeated sigh, before looking out as well for a moment, trying to feel what her slightly older sister is feeling, but to no avail. So, with a sigh, she turns back to their room. A few days ago it was nice and tidy, just as the maids had prepared it, before they came in. Luan was no stranger to the mess that resulted from her pie baking and comedic experiments, but she always made sure to clean up.

Though, this time she had ended up burning her pies multiple times and had failed to clean up the resulting mess for some reason.

She steps back in and over to the small oven she was allowed to bring, and checks its contents, "Yet another burnt pie…"

Luan hesitates for a moment, _"I can't let her stay like this… I have to do something or else something worse could happen…"_ And so, with a final push, she turns back to her uncertain sister and speaks with in begging voice, "Luna… come on, this isn't like you." Before she places her hand on her sister's shoulder.

Luna doesn't respond, and instead chooses to continue staring out into the midnight sky, as if hoping for something to change everything, for a sort of miracle that could bring them back to the reality they knew.

"Luna, come on, this isn't healthy." She continues, her soft voice cutting through the hard air that had formed between them. "Please, you've been like this ever since that meeting ended."

Her voice gains a hint of fear as she continues, "You have to calm down. You have to keep yourself together… you're in charge now."

"Calm down?" Luna glares at her clownish sister, "Why should I calm down?" Then, with a brisk turn, she pushes her away, "Lincoln had to be taken to the hospital and Lori and Lynn had to go with him for some odd reason mate!" She then takes her finger and starts poking at her flower angrily, "And if you haven't noticed sis, I'm doing a piss poor job of keeping the seven of you from burning this place down. Heck, I was barely able to keep you guys in line for twenty minutes!"

"Luna, calm down!" Luan cries frantically, only for Luna to push her away, clenching her fist as she does so.

"Don't bleepin' tell me to calm down! I've been in charge for all of four hours and in that time, I could barely run a family meeting!" Then, she grabs the two halves of her broken guitar, "And guess what! I would play some music to distract myself from this bleepin' mess, but I had to break the one instrument I brought to get your attention!" Then, she throws the two halves on floor in anger.

"Luna!" Luan pleads, as she fearfully backs into the wall, and crouches down against it. "Please, you have to-"

Luna shouts, "Shut it!" Before she throws a lone punch… Hitting the wall just above Luan, causing a small dent to form, "I don't want to hear another peep from you for the rest of the night, is that clear?"

Luan fearfully nods.

With her message loud and clear, Luna turns away from her sister, "I'm going to bed. Good night Luan. Don't get into trouble."

The comedian nods fearfully, as she watches her purple sister get into the bed across from her.

 _"What's going on Luna? Nothing much has happened yet and you're already a nervous wreck!"_ She thinks, before pulling herself from the ground _. "This isn't anything like the calm sister that's always there for us!"_

She turns, and steps over to the door in silence, " _Maybe Lucy could help me out somehow… after all, she must be really lonely without Lynn keeping her company!"_ She gives a pained smile, as if she already knows that what she is thinking is nothing more than a hopeful lie.

With a heavy heart and a confused mind, she steps out of her room and walks to the next one over, Lucy and Lynn's shared room.

Luan knocks on the door softly, while she calls, "Hey Luce, you in there, sis?"

A few moments of silence pass.

"I know you're in there," Luan continues, "I can hear you breathing!"

"Sigh." Lucy responds, before walking over and unlocking her door, "What is it Luan, you're ruining my gloomy atmosphere."

Luan takes a quick look inside the dark room, expecting to see another perfect copy of her own. Yet, she takes a step back in shock when she realizes that her sister had changed almost every aspect of it. From the now blackened bed sheets, to the covered carpeting and moved beds.

"Uhh Lucy, what are you doing?" Luan asks, an awkward and fearful feeling emanating from her body, "And why did you convert your room into a witch's den? You know what mom and dad said about wrecking your hotel room!"

"Yes, I remember what they said." Lucy flatly responds, "But mom and dad aren't around. So there is no one to enforce that rule." She motions at the room, its dark decorations now overshadowing what she had been given only a few days prior, "Plus, I find it easier to talk to the spirits when the mood is properly set."

"So… you're trying to find out about Lincoln aren't you?"

Lucy nods, "Yes. The spirits know all. You interrupted me before I could begin the future-predicting ritual."

"Oh…" Luan nervously goes, while rubbing the back of her head, "I just wanted to talk to you about Luna… Without Lincoln around she's going a bit off the rails."

"That's a given." Lucy quietly responds, "Remember, she has never been in charge before and I don't know why Lori left her of all sisters, in charge of the seven of us."

Then, Lucy attempts to close the door on Luan, only for the yellow-colored girl to stop her, "Are you worried about Lincoln?"

Lucy remains silent.

"Lucy… do you know what's going on?"

Lucy shakes her head, "No, but I have a feeling, that may be good, that Lincoln is going to be fine. The spirits in my séance told me that everything would be fine."

"Oh… ok then…" Luan nervously adds, "Do you want to talk or need help sleeping? I heard that you have trouble falling asleep without Lynn bouncing a ball against the wall constantly."

She shakes her head in response, "No, I'll be fine without that, thank you." Lucy then attempts to close the door once more, and this time, Luan allows it, "Thanks for the offer though."

And with that, the door closes, leaving Luan alone once more.

She sighs in defeat, before turning and walking back to her own room, with the only thought on her mind being, _"I hope Lincoln's ok… things are falling apart without him and Lori making sure we aren't getting into trouble…"_

Back inside her room, Lucy leans against the door and curls up. _"Why aren't the spirits speaking to me? They usually have all of the answers and are always there. It's almost like even they don't know what's going on with Lincoln…"_

Fear fills her black heart. For years she had relied on the spirits of those whom had come before to gain insights on what was to come. With their help, she was able to predict everything from the minor to the major. She could even predict when the next visit to the hospital would be, and which unlucky sibling would be on that stretcher.

Yet, this time around, she had no warning.

For the first time in ages, the future was not as she had predicted. Her comfort, for once, had been broken.

Lucy eventually stands up and walks over to her magic circle, a random, hastily-made flurry of circles and crudely-draw arcane symbols drawn with white chalk and four animal wax candles burning at its edges.

For a moment, she stands in its center and hesitates, as if preparing her spirit for the ritual at hand.

Then she speaks.

Her voice is filled with a solemnity that could only be compared to that of a general making his last stand known, "Oh spirits of the great beyond; reveal your truths to me. I beg of thee please heed my cry, and guide my actions from now on."

Yet, nothing happens.

Lucy's desperation builds. The heart that she had ignored for ages begins to race. _"Why are the spirits staying silent? Why will they not help me?"_ She thinks in desperation. _"There has to be a way for me to contact them! There just has to be!"_

She looks around her room frantically, though she does find it difficult in the dark. Eventually, her eyes come to rest on a deck of cards, ones she had received from a mysterious old lady just a few days prior, resting on her bed.

The elderly woman's words echo in her mind for a moment, as if the cards begin to call for her. "Life's mysteries… Life is strange…" She repeats, before walking over to the deck, and almost instinctively opening and shuffling the cards.

"Spirits from the great beyond, please send me a message through these cards." She whispers, before walking over to the table and taking a seat, "Please, predict the future so that I may be ready for what is to come." And with a final deep breath, she stops shuffling and places the deck on the table.

Her heart races faster as she grabs the first card and flips it over, revealing a triangle with a majestic eye inside, "The eye of truth… this fortune comes from a being on high."

A tense air begins to fill the room, as if Lucy, for the first time in her life, was worried by what she was about to predict, "If this is true, then let it be done." She then takes hold of the next card and flips it over revealing a single circle with multiple branching lines leading to other circles.

"Strange…" Lucy whispers, "I don't recognize this…" She hesitates, her own uncertainty filling her heart. She angles the card, causing each of the circles and connections to line up, forming a more familiar shape. "The bonds of family?"

 _"This fortune isn't making sense…"_ Confusion begins to fill her young mind once more.

She then takes the deck of cards in her hand once more, "And these strange cards are providing no answers whatsoever… Maybe the third will give me the answer I seek…" Her young mind races as she grabs hold of the card, revealing a beautiful tree encapsulated by a light-blue circle.

With that, Lucy gives a relieved smile, "The tree of Life? I guess this means Lincoln is going to be all right… I hope." She breathes in a sigh in relief, and places the deck down. "Hopefully…" And with that, she stands up once more and begins to clean up the mess she had created.

With a hint of uncertainty filling her heart.

* * *

A few yards away, Lisa returns to her own work, studying the results of her latest test with what she would describe as mundane human emotions clouding her young mind, "Grr! What's going on?!" She pulls at her short hair in frustration, "None of this is making sense!"

She pushes the chair away from the desk and stands on her own feet to test the next sample, "His samples are showing no signs of foreign contamination nor illness and his clothing has shown no signs or allergens or chemical exposure!"

Lisa begins to pace her room worriedly, "There has to be an explanation! There has to be a reason for why my brother has ended in his previous state."

Her worried thoughts race, searching desperately for an answer, "Science has never failed me before! Why would it start failing me now?!"

She then turns back to the glass tubes resting by her analyzer and laptop and hesitates.

"Maybe… Lori's increased hormonal activity could give me a lead…" She sighs in defeat, "It isn't much to work off of, but it's all I've got… I have to do something other than sit around getting frustrated by what I don't have."

And so, she takes a seat once more, and returns to her experiment.

It looks like she's not going to get any sleep tonight either.

 _Meanwhile…_

A few miles away from the temporary home of the Loud children, the quiet hospital rests; its old brick worn from the years of use and on and off maintenance.

It's just as lively as when Lori and Lynn had arrived, with patients being both admitted and discharged at a rate typical of the midnight shift. Of the few who do arrive, the majority enters through the emergency room.

Though simple in design, United Star Medical Center breathes of an eerie tranquility, of the fine line between life and death, with the workers as the final arbiters of their patient's fates. Quite humbling is it not?

This fact alone is more than enough to put many a patient and family member on edge, and the two Loud children are no exceptions.

Lori stands by calmly, as she watches her younger sister pace the emergency room waiting room in silence. A nervous air fills the almost deserted space. An unusual night for sure, with a town of tourists, partiers and college students, the ER was rarely empty during the witching hour.

Yet, tonight it seems as if fate had decided that the Loud children needed space to breathe.

After close to half an hour of her nonstop motion, Lori breaks the tense silence with, "Lynn."

Her sister doesn't stop pacing, but instead responds with a harsh, nervous tone, "Yeah Lori, what is it?"

Lori speaks with a motherly voice, not uncommon for the older sister, "I need you to calm down for a moment…"

"Calm down?!" Lynn angrily shouts, cutting her eldest off, "Lincoln's having some sort of I don't know-incident and we aren't there for him!"

Lori steps over and places a soft, comforting hand on her shoulder in response, "I need you to relax for a moment, and tell me what happened before Lincoln began to… spazz out."

Lynn hesitates for a moment, as if she had been asked to pull the trigger on an innocent man.

"Please Lynn, I want to know. I might be able to at least get an idea of what could be wrong with him."

The young athlete's mind begins to race in a desperate bid to describe an event that had occurred mere moments prior.

"Well…" she answers with an uncertain voice, "I was talking to him, shouting 'you're awake!' And stuff and then I playfully punched his arm and hugged him." A tear begins to fill the usually stoic girl's eye, "He smiled at me and put his hand on my face, before wham!" she slaps her hands together, "He just starts randomly spazzing out!"

"I see…" Lori then pulls Lynn into a hug. Although Lynn resists for a moment, even she can't help, but to give into her eldest sister's comforting embrace.

"Remember Lynn." She continues, "I need you to stay strong for him, no matter what happens, ok?" She whispers.

"Ok…" Lynn begins to tear up, yet she uses Lori's shirt to hide them from sight. "Why did you even bring me along? You know how I get in hospitals!"

The memories of their previous visits echo through Lori's mind. Only two months prior, they had to rush Lincoln to the ER for a ruptured Appendix, caused by blunt force trauma. Lynn remembered well why that was the case.

"I know you won't leave his side no matter what Lynn." She whispers into the younger girl's ear, "I know that when I have to go you'll stay with him, and make sure that nothing bad will happen." She then breaks the embrace and crouches down to her height, "And I know that you're close to him, closer than the rest of us. That's because deep down, while you may tease and mess with him, you always want to be near him and prepare him for the real world. That's why I brought you Lynn."

Lynn nods, "Ok… I think I understand."

While Lori continues the line in her head, _"That, and Luna would struggle to handle eight panicked sisters, I needed at least one off her back to keep her from completely falling apart."_

With that, a young doctor steps into the room, "Are you two the sisters of…" He quietly checks his clipboard, "A Mr. Lincoln Loud?"

Lori nods, "Yeah, we're his sisters."

"Good." He continues, "We're moving him to the pediatric unit now, and we need the approval of his next of kin to admit him. According to his chart, this responsibility has been delegated to you, is this correct?"

Lori nods, "Yes it has been."

"If you will come follow me, we can sort out his information, while the doctors and nurses move him, ok?" Lori nods, before turning to Lynn.

"Lynn, I need you to stay with Lincoln until I arrive, ok?" Her voice gains a motherly command to it, and Lynn simply nods in response.

And with that, the duo follows the young doctor back into the ER.

 _A Few Hours Later…_

Soft morning sunlight filters through the old hospital windows, illuminating the white room with their glow.

"No…" Lincoln whispers, his body shaking in fear, "Please no… don't feed me those pancakes Luan! No!" Lincoln jolts awake with a scream.

"Hah… hah…" he takes deep breaths to relax his tense nerves, "It was… a dream?" He places his soft hand on his hair and runs it through, "Huh… I guess it was just a dream. Phew…" He drops back, letting his bed take him in once more.

"Heh, Luan's crazy…" He chuckles, "It's a good thing she wouldn't try to force feed me pancakes in real life huh?" He smiles, "But I guess that's what comes with the territory." He then turns onto his left side, preparing to go back to sleep…

Only to feel a soft tug on his arm.

 _"What the?"_ He thinks, before looking down at his arm. There's a small plastic needle connected to a plastic tube running directly into his vein, "Why is there a needle in my arm?!" His mind begins to race, before he sits up once more, "Where am I?!"

The first thing he sees is the rather plainly decorated white wall in front of him, with child-like drawings of random letters and animals running across the top and bottom, as well as a TV across from him.

In his panic, he looks to his right, and takes a moment to absorb the fact that there is a needle currently stuck into his arm, with a long plastic tube running into a bag of clear liquid labeled, "Phenytoin." On his fingers are more wires, connected to a random array of devices measuring an equally random array of variables.

"I'm… in the hospital?" He whispers, before turning to his left, only to find Lori resting against the old hospital window; her arms and her legs are crossed, while her head was nodded down, as if she had only planned to rest for a few moments, but could not help but fall asleep.

Lynn rests next to her, her own body leaning over the bed railing, as if she had unconsciously fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up.

"What's going on?" He whispers, as he watches a random array of doctors and nurses pass by the room, "Why am I here?" His heart begins to beat faster, adrenaline filling his system. "Lori, Lynn, wake up!"

Yet, his two sisters do not stir, they sleep on as if they had not rested in weeks.

Finally, he nudges his sister in desperation, "Hey, hey Lynn. Hey Lynn wake up."

A few moments of this pass, before Lynn finally stirs from her slumber with, "Ugh, what is it?"

"Hey Lynn. What's going on?"

Lynn takes a moment to process his question, before her eyes go wide and she shouts, "Lincoln! You're all right!" Then, she leans over the railing to hug her now conscious brother, "We were so worried about you! Thank goodness you're all right!"

"L-Lynn!" Lincoln shouts painfully, "You're crushing me!"

Lynn blushes in embarrassment, "Oops, sorry Linc, forgot my own strength there for a sec."

"It's fine." Lincoln takes a deep breathe to recompose himself, "So, would you mind filling me in on what happened last night?" Then, he motions at the room around him, "And why the heck I'm in a hospital now?"

His sister hesitates for a moment, unsure of how to respond to her brother's question. And so, she looks away and responds with, "Lincoln, we don't really know what happened last night…"

Lincoln looks at Lynn with confusion cutting across his expression, "What do you mean?"

Lynn rubs the back of her head, searching desperately for the right words to explain the situation, "Last night the doctor told us that you had a seizure or something and that they had to bring you in so they could find out what's going on…" She sighs, "But we haven't heard anything from them in hours. Most of the nurses around here seem too busy to tell us anything…"

"So… I had a seizure?" Lincoln repeats, as if trying to let the idea sink in.

"Yeah, and afterwards you passed out." Lynn responds, "You had us really worried you know? You ended up bashing your head against a nightstand." Then the realization hits her, "Does your head hurt?"

"No?" Lincoln goes in confusion, "Just some slight aching and stuff, but I'm fine I guess."

"Good." Lynn flatly adds, before leaning closer, "You know, the doctors said that we were lucky to have been there when you passed out. We were warned that with case like this, every second counts."

Lincoln looks at his slightly older sister in confusion, "What happened last night?"

"We were just about to start the family meeting when you suddenly passed out and hurt yourself remember?"

He shakes his head, "I remember you guys coming into my room, and everything after that is a blur…" He looks at Lynn with curious and nervous eyes, "What else happened?"

"After you passed out, Lori picked you up and carried you down to the ambulance."

Lincoln's gaze moves over to his resting eldest sister with that, "Huh, so is that why she's so out of it now?"

Lynn shakes her head, "No, she stayed up all night watching you…" She turns to Lori as well, "While I could barely stay awake at the 1 AM mark, she was still going strong. And she just wouldn't let herself give into sleep until the tests they wanted to do were done."

"Oh…" Lincoln responds, unsure of what to make of Lynn's words.

And with that, an unsure silence fills the one-bedded room.

"Hey Lynn, what time is it?" He quietly asks.

"About… eight-thirty. You've been out for like… ten hours bro."

Lincoln's eyes go wide in surprise, "Are you serious Lynn?! I was out for that long?!"

"Yeah…" Her voice trails off.

"Hello!" A young nurse greets, as she pushes a food cart into the room, "Good morning! How are you feeling?" Her voice is filled with a youthful enthusiasm, as if she had just begun her life as a nurse and this was her first week.

"I'm ok…" Lincoln answers, his voice filling with a hint of uncertainty as he does so.

The nurse takes a tray of food from the cart and continues, "I'm Nurse Alice Sellers, and I'll be here to help if you need anything!" Her voice is filled with sugar, while her soft, brown hair breathes of a young life ready to be taken on. It is obvious she had not had the time for the hospital to take that hope out of her.

"Ok… and thanks I guess." Lincoln looks away from his sisters and the nurse, as if trying to think of what to do or how he had ended up in his present situation.

Nurse Sellers puts on a determined expression as she places Lincoln's food tray on his bedside table, "I have to deliver the rest of these meals, but I'll go get the doctor. He'll be ecstatic to meet you!"

Lincoln tilts his head in confusion, "Ok then…"

"Before I go though, do you have any questions?" The nurse asks, her calm demeanor is more than enough to relax the young boy.

"What's a seizure?" He flatly asks.

The nurse thinks for a moment, before responding with a soft. Almost motherly professionalism, "A seizure is when the brain malfunctions temporarily and causes unusual spasms and the like."

"Oh… so not normal huh?"

"Yes." She nods.

Lincoln thinks for a moment, and continues, "Where am I?"

"You're in the Pediatric Care Ward at United Star Medical Center."

"Pediatric Ward?" He tilts his head.

The nurse calmly responds, "It means every other patient is a child here."

Lynn then speaks up, "Do you know what's going on with him yet, or not? We've been here for hours and no one's told us anything!" Her voice is filled with a natural frustration. "We want to know what's going on!"

"Please calm down, we're working as hard as we can on your case." The nurse responds desperately, "But your lab report won't be ready for another hour or two."

Lynn begrudgingly sits back in frustration.

The nurse then stands up, "If those are all of your questions, then I'll be on my way I suppose…"

Lincoln and Lynn turn to each other for a moment, and nod.

"Don't worry," The nurse assures, "We may not know much about what's going on with you yet, but I promise that before you leave here, you'll know."

And with that, she takes hold of the food cart once more, and turns it around, "Please eat, I'll send the doctor here soon." Before she pushes it out of the room.

"She was… interesting I guess." Lincoln quips calmly, while Lynn remains silent, unsure of how to possibly respond.

A few moments pass of uncertain silence pass between the two children, before a man steps in. His hair is mixture of light brown and grey, while his skin a fair. He wears a white lab coat and carries a blue clipboard. He wears the expression of an uncaring man, prepared to do his job and clock out as soon as possible as he approaches the three children.

"Hello." He speaks in a low tone. "I am Doctor Sean Thomas, and I have been assigned to your case." He turns to Lincoln with hard gaze, as if he had seen a million children just like him before. He then steps over and pulls the chart out from Lincoln's bed and reads, "Lincoln Loud, eleven-year-old male, suffering from seizures of unknown origin?"

He looks up, "Is this correct?"

Lincoln nods nervously, and the doctor calmly closes the portfolio in response, "Kid, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, I promise you that." The air around him heats up, as if for a moment, this doctor shows a fragment of humanity that is unknown to him, "A nurse is going to come by in a few minutes and leave the results of your blood work here. Until then, I'm going to go look up the results of the CT scan the nurses had done on you last night."

His voice hardens once more, "Any questions?"

Lincoln nervously shakes his head.

"Ok then. I will, most likely, see you in an hour or two." Then he turns and checks his watch, "Don't forget to eat. The hospital food sucks, but it's still better than going hungry."

The doctor's uncaring voice goes low as he finishes, "If you need me, go call a nurse. I have to look over my other white-haired patient before the dean of medicine starts annoying me, again."

 _"Other white-haired patient?"_ Lincoln thinks, unsure of what to do next.

Then, Thomas walks out of the room, leaving an even colder air behind than when he came.

Lincoln turns to face the wall ahead of him with an uncertain gaze. His heart begins to race with the cloud of uncertainty looming over him.

"You ok Lincoln?" Lynn places her warm hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

Lincoln turns to Lynn with his eyes filling with tears, causing a wave of despair to fall upon her.

"Lynn, I'm scared."

12-5-20 20-8-5 23-1-18-13 1-9-18 7-9-22-5 25-15-21 3-15-13-6-15-18-20 1-14-4 20-8-5 23-1-18-13 12-9-6-5 7-9-22-5 25-15-21 8-15-16-5.

 **A/N Well… that was something. I hope you all enjoyed this! Again, I'm planning on keeping this on hiatus until April 14** **th** **, 2017 for multiple reasons. Though… I am considering posting once or twice a month due to the rate at which I'm writing these chapters. Anyways I thank Exotos135 for his help and LovecraftFan for beta-editing!**

 **Also, since there's a fully planned story that was basically the first draft to this, I've decided to talk about what this story could've been. So the second to last paragraph in the bottom A/N will talk about it from now on. Anyways, in the original plan, the hospital scene was supposed to take up the entirety of chapter 2 and chapter 1 would've focused more on the ordinary day. Overall, the original story was paced much faster and didn't have... any development.**

 **Lastly, what did you guys think? Too long/too short? Too uninteresting? too much/too little happening? All criticism is welcomed, as per the usual.**


	4. Story Time And The Waiting Game

**A/N Ahh, it's been a long and only slightly productive 5 months, but hey I'm back as promised! I hope you enjoy! So much planning and so many stories just occurred, this chapter took forever to write too. But hey, I think it was worth it! Please, tell me what you think!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter 4: Story Time And The Waiting Game

"Lynn, I'm scared." His voice goes low, filling with child-like fear.

Those words echo in the young athlete's mind, as if she is trying to understand a foreign sound.

In the Loud House it's easy to get overrun by a flurry of random and seemingly disjointed emotions. Yet, even in that mess, fear rarely shows itself. And why would it? In a family as big as the Louds', it has no place!

" _Lincoln… is scared?"_ For a moment, the young woman stands by, her body filling with a painful uncertainty. Lincoln, of course, could feel many things, but fear? That just makes no sense!

On a normal day, the sisters would conjure a storm of support for their ailing brother. Though some would've argued that it would be a bit over the top, none could deny that they were caring for him out of love.

Yet today was different. Lincoln had to be hospitalized and the doctors, the people they had been raised to trust with their very lives, had no idea what was going on.

A tense air of uncertainty fills the hospital room, with Lori continuing to rest in a nearby chair while Lincoln and Lynn stare at each other, as if trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Soft tears begin to fill Lynn's eyes, before she gives Lincoln a hopeful smile, "Don't worry Lincoln, no matter what happens, we'll be here for you. You're going to be all right." She then grabs hold of her fearful brother and continues, "No matter what happens, we'll be by you ok."

Lincoln gives a soft smile and tries to lean over into a full hug, but relents when he feels the tug of the needle in his arm. "Heh, I almost forgot that this was here."

Lynn leans over the plastic railing and gives him a hug in response, though he is unable to use his right arm in it, while she makes sure to pat his back and whisper, "You're going to be all right. You're going to be fine. Don't worry Lincoln."

If he could've, the young boy would've held onto his sister, instead choosing to simply pull her in with his free hand as best he could.

For a few moments, the siblings hold that, with Lynn working desperately to calm her ailing brother's tense nerves… though even she can feel that it doesn't work, the tense air forming around them giving the only answer she needs.

Suddenly, an idea comes to the older girl; a few words that their mother would sing to the young Louds whenever they would get lonely and afraid. Though it takes her a moment to muster up the courage, she manages to whisper with a hopeful tone, "No matter what you do, I'll be there for you. And if you call my name, I won't be far away. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, I'll never let you be alone. This I promise you…"

Though Lynn isn't much of a singer, her voice fills with a softness and determination uncharacteristic of the gruff and tough sister, "Thanks Lynn…"

"No problem Linc." She releases her brother slowly, allowing the room's now soft and caring air to overtake them. "Now, how about you eat your food?" She smiles and walks around his bed, "It's probably not too good, but it's better than nothing!"

The young boy stares at the miscellaneous goo the hospital calls food for a short moment, as if contemplating whether or not he would like to go out with this meal. "Well uhh…" he takes the spoon and begins to poke at the meal, "It's uhh… cool…" While he thinks, _"So this is how I'm gonna die… by hospital food."_

"Come on now…" Lynn takes the spoon from him and scoops up a small bite of what can only be described as watery mashed potatoes, before she shoves it in her own mouth. She gags in pain as the bitter goo enters her throat, causing her to shiver. She fights the urge to vomit for a moment, before looking to her brother and smiling, "See! I took it! Now your turn!"

Lincoln gulps in fear for a moment, before taking the spoon and scooping some of the slop, "Well, bottom's up!" He declares, and shoves it in his mouth. He winces in pain for a moment, before looking up, smiling and taking another spoonful of the stuff, "Hey, this isn't that bad."

"Seriously bro?" Lynn stares at her brother and tilts her head in confusion, "You really like that goop."

"Yeah Lynn." He downs another spoonful, "Tastes like Sauerkraut!"

"Heh, you never change." The girl chuckles, before sitting down next to her sleeping older sister, "So how are ya feelin' now?"

The boy sighs and leans back, "Well… I'm not hungry anymore at least." He motions towards the, now empty, plate of random food. "But…" he lets out a deep breath and Lynn in the eyes with worry filling his expression, "I just wanna know what's going on now."

"No worries Lincoln, I'm sure we're gonna find out soon!" Lynn leans back and speaks with a soft voice, "I'm sure of it."

"Well, anyways…" Lincoln sighs again in relief, "Do you know where mom and dad are? Shouldn't they be here and stuff?"

Lynn rubs the back of her head awkwardly, "Well Linc… uhh, I don't know where they well… are."

The boy tilts his head in curiosity, "What do you mean sis?"

The athletic girl lets out a deep breath and continues to rub, "They weren't around when you got taken to the hospital, and I don't remember Lori mentioning them last night…" She looks at him, worry filling her as well, "And well, I'm not sure what they're doing, I don't think Lori was able to call them last night."

"Oh…" Lincoln looks away, "Ok then, I guess-" He stares at the wall across from his bed. "How are you feelin'-"

"Ugh." The eldest sister groans, slowly opening her eyes and rubbing her head as she does so. "What happened?"

The two other siblings immediately turn to their eldest sister and shout, "Lori!"

Lynn hops to her feet and turns to her, "Lincoln's awake!"

"Huh? Yeah, sure, that's cool." She covers her mouth and yawns, "I just had the weirdest dream. Lincoln was sick or something and we had to take him to the emergency…" her gaze falls upon the hospital bed standing in front of her, with Lincoln sitting up and looking at her.

Her eyes go wide as the realization hits her, "…it wasn't a dream was it?"

"No, it wasn't." Lynn flatly responds, before grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her vigorously, "But who cares?! Lincoln's awake!"

Immediately, Lori grabs Lynn's arm, stopping her, "Ok, ok, I get it!" then she pushes her off. "How's he doing right now?"

"Well, by the way I feel, I think I'm doing fine." Lincoln nonchalantly answers, much to Lori's delight.

The eldest girl breathes a sigh of relief, before she hops to her feet and greets her younger brother, "Good mornin' bro." She affectionately rubs his head; "You scared us real bad last night, having that seizure and all."

"Heh, yeah, the doctors and Lynn filled me in." He smiles, "So, I guess the others are still at the hotel?"

"Yeah, they couldn't fit in the ambulance, so we had to leave them behind." She rubs the back of her head, "And since I know your thing with Lynn, I took her with us." Her voice gets more nervous, "So, I left Luna in charge for the night."

"Huh, ok then…" Lincoln's voice trails off before the realization hits him, "Wait… you left Luna in charge?!"

Lori immediately counters, "Well it's better than leaving Leni or Luan in charge. After all, we don't want the hotel burning down while we're gone do we?" She then chuckles and waves him off, "Besides, it's not like a ton could've happened in the one night we were gone, right?"

"Well, ok then…" Lincoln leans back, possibly contemplating what crazy adventures his siblings could have while he's hospitalized, "Wait… if Luna's in charge, where are mom and dad?"

" _Dangit… I was hoping he wouldn't ask that so soon."_ She rubs the back of her head, "Well, umm, they kinda went on business before the accident… and they're not picking up their phones for some reason." The air around the young woman begins to fill with an uncertain coldness, "So uhh… yeah… I don't know where they are."

"Oh…" Lincoln whispers, a soft pain in his voice. "I just thought… you know… mom and dad would come around and stuff…"

Lori places a motherly hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Lincoln, we're here for ya, and I'll bring the others in later, ok?"

"Thanks Lori." Lincoln calmly responds.

"So… we're on our own huh?" Lynn speaks up, worry filling her tone.

"Yeah…" She puts on a motherly calm, as she give Lynn a reassuring look, "But don't worry, everything's gonna be all right." She then looks into Lincoln's fear-filled eyes, "And no matter what happens, we'll be there for ya bro."

"Though, we will have to go out to eat every now and then." Lynn playfully punches both Lori and Lincoln's arms.

"Thanks guys… you don't know how much it means to me." Lincoln's voice fills with a soft care, as if he is imagining how this scene would play out if his sisters weren't around.

Lynn waves him off, "Don't sweat it bro, it's our job as family!"

That's when two nurses step into the room, pushing a small cart of tools.

"Hi there." Lori greets.

"Good morning!" One of them- a small woman with a stout appearance greets, "We're here to take some samples for the tests."

Lori looks at Lynn in response, and the younger girl goes, "The doctor said some nurses would come around to take his blood."

"Ah." Lori turns to the nurses, "Ok then, would you like us to leave or something?"

"Not at all." The second nurse- a dark-skinned woman with oversized glasses pulls out a small needle, "Most of our younger patients prefer that their siblings or parents stay in the room while we do our thing."

Lori then looks at Lincoln, "What do you think Linc-" *Grumble* her stomach goes.

"Well… by the sound of it, neither of you have had anything to eat since those burgers last night." Lincoln chuckles, "How about you two go and get some breakfast while they work?"

"Are you sure Linc?" The older girl looks away and loosely crosses her arms, "I mean, wouldn't you wanna have-"

Lincoln waves her off, "Don't worry Lori, I'll be fine, please, go eat." He smiles, "After all, I'm in the hospital, I don't want you guys to end up in one of these too."

"But Linc!" The athletic girl's voice fills with concern.

"Don't worry." The young boy nods one more time.

"Ok then Lincoln." Lori sighs, before taking hold of Lynn's arm, "Come on now, he'll be fine." A commanding air overtakes the duo, before Lori looks at the nurses and nods. And with she guides Lynn out of the room.

"Your sisters really care about ya huh?" The dark-skinned nurse quips.

"Heh, yeah." Lincoln smiles as the lighter-skinned one takes out a small needle, "I live with ten of em, so you kinda get used to it."

"Ten sisters huh?" The dark-skinned nurse goes, "I guess that would explain the white hair."

Lincoln motions towards his snow-white locks, "Nah, actually there's a pretty cool story behind this." He nervously rubs it; "It involves some Peroxide, one of my sister's party cannons, and a French Fry."

The two nurses stare at him in confusion for a moment, before the lighter-skinned one shrugs, "You know what, I've heard stranger."

"Really?" The boy tilts his head in curiosity… turning his head towards the light-skinned nurse, while the dark-skinned one walks out of his field of vision.

She chuckles, "Yeah, I had three sisters and one brother growing up, and boy, oh boy, when you cram five kids into a small apartment, well…" She coughs, "You're gonna have a bad time."

"How bad?" Lincoln leans in, ignoring the slight pinch he feels in his left arm.

The nurse rubs the back of her head, "How about… we couldn't have nice things bad." She chuckles, "Heh, one time we had to fight over a pizza so much that the darn thing ended up falling off the roof of our building!"

"I think I see what you're coming from." Lincoln looks up, "When we try to get pizza in our home, we each get a slice, it's who gets the last one that's the problem."

"I can figure. Who gets the last one?" She holds him tightly, eager to make sure he doesn't notice what's happening on the other side.

"Usually our parents bring in coupons, so the pets end up fighting over it." He chuckles, "But hey, that's what happens when you have ten sisters!"

"Of course, but no matter what happens, you know they'll be there for ya." The nurse's voice gains a soft solemnity to it, "And that's the truth."

"And done!" The dark-skinned nurse declares, causing the two to turn to her. She holds up a small vial filled with crimson liquid, "Looks fine to me, but we'll run some tests." And with that, she shakes it a bit, before the two nurses bid the young child a calm goodbye and walk out of the room.

And Lincoln simply closes his eyes and smiles, "I'll be fine…"

* * *

"Three bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches please." The eldest sister orders, her voice filling with a concerned heat.

"You got it." The man behind the counter gives a small salute, before getting to work on their breakfast

She quietly turns to her younger sister, "You ok with that, Lynn?"

Lynn stares passed her, no doubt her mind deep in thought. _"I wonder if Lincoln's really gonna be ok…"_

"Lynn?" Lori tilts her head, before looking at the man behind the counter; he pays them no mind while he works on the foodstuffs. _"That's great."_ She then gently shakes her sister, "Hey, wake up!"

Immediately, Lynn snaps to her senses, "Huh, what?!"

"You ok sis?" Lori looks the younger girl in the eyes and squats to her height.

Lynn begins to nervously rub her arm, "I'm just worried about Lincoln is all…" She looks away, "No biggie."

Lori mentally facepalms at that, _"Of course she's worried about Lincoln, why wouldn't she?!"_ then sighs, and rubs her head, "Don't worry Lynn. I'm sure the doctors know exactly what they're doin'. I'm sure Lincoln's gonna be fine by the time we leave here!"

"Still…" Lynn's voice trails off. "Just him randomly spazzing out like that… it worries me ya know."

Instead of continuing her reassurances, Lori simply smiles and holds onto Lynn's shoulder.

"Three bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches!" The man calls out, before presenting a small, brown, paper bag with the items inside, "That'll be seven ninety-five."

"Ok then." The elder girl quickly pays the man, before grabbing her athletic sister and pulling her over to a nearby table, "Calm down Lynn." She then shoves her hand into the bag and hands her one of the sandwiches, "And eat up, you won't be able to help Lincoln if you're hungry."

Lynn stares at the foil-wrapped item for a moment, before letting out her own deep breath, "Yeah… I guess you're right sis." And with that, she unwraps her meal and begins to eat.

"Great, and when you're done there, we'll bring Lincoln this last one." The older girl then proceeds to open up the second sandwich and begin to eat as well.

And so the two girls eat in silence for a few, short moments, with neither knowing just how to change the subject… that is until Lynn speaks up.

"Hey Lori…" Her voice fills with a soft curiosity.

"Hmm?" She looks up.

"How are you able to stay so… calm despite everything?" her sister asks.

"Oh, I'm not calm." Lori chuckles, "But I appear to be. When you've gotta manage ten siblings, you get used to dealing with accidents and strange situations… especially when some siblings cause explosions without warning."

"Heh, of course." Lynn chuckles, "I just ask cause you seem to be super fine despite the fact that Lincoln's, well, in the hospital and you don't know how the others are doing."

Suddenly, a wave of dread overtakes her, the painful realization hitting her, _"I left Luna… the extremely laidback rock star of a sister in charge of seven siblings…"_ Before she quickly shakes her head and waves Lynn off, "Ehh, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine! I mean seriously! What's the worst that could happen?!"

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Luan, wake up!" Luna shouts, cutting through the peaceful room's atmosphere, as she pulls the sheets out from on top of her sister, "I need your help with this!"

Luan groans, "Ugh, what is it?"

"I need your help to get the others up for breakfast!" The older girl answers, grabbing hold of her sister's shoulders and shaking her as she does so, "So I need you to get your arse off your bed and help me out!"

"Ok, ok!" Luan pushes her off and yawns, "Ugh, why are we up so early? I mean can't this wait till-"

Luna immediately points at the nearby digital clock, "Luan! It's flippin' ten o'clock! We slept in!"

"Well yeah… because you can't count sleep without the clock!" the comedian puts on a weak smile with that, while Luna stares at her in annoyance, "What?" She flares her arms up.

"Not the time sis. This is not the time!" Luna shakes her head in annoyance, before frantically grabbing Luan's hand and dragging her out of bed.

"Well I guess you're the bulldozer now!" Luan tries to pun as Luna forces her to her feet.

"Not the time Luan! Seriously!" Then Luna grabs her again and drags her out of their shared room. And a few minutes after that, they're in the hallway, furiously knocking on their sibling's doors. "Wake up!" The rocker girl commands, "It's time to wake up!"

Her banging no doubt wakes her siblings from what little sleep they could muster from the night prior.

* * *

Just a few feet away from their panicked, temporary leader, Lisa groans as she pulls herself from the miscellaneous pile of random papers and notes she had sprawled on her desk.

She tiredly eyeballs her latest paper- her notes on the strange inconsistencies between the poop she had collected weeks prior and just the day before- before she turns and gazes out into the Aloha beach morning, "What the… how long was I out?"

Then she pushes herself out of her chair and trudges over to the nearby sink, and glances at herself in the mirror. The bags under her eyes spoke of just how much sleep she and most likely, her sisters had received while awaiting news about their male sibling's condition.

With a tired and cloudy mind, she quietly turns on the tap and splashes her face with the icy water… causing her to jolt awake in surprise. She shivers and shakes her head to regain her bearings, "Ok then, uhh…" She walks over to her desk, "let's see the results of the tests I ran last night…"

She taps her device's screen… only to receive no response, "Dangit…" She hits the power button with that, causing a small battery with a red line at one end to appear, "Curse this device's short battery life." She lets out a deep breath, "Hopefully I remembered to save my results before unwittingly suspending con-"

"Lisa! It's time for breakfast! Get up and get out here!" The incumbent leader angrily commands, before a soft *click* emanates from the door. A moment after that, the entrance to the hotel room bursts open, allowing Luna to barge in. "Come on sis, it's time to go!"

*Yawn* "Understood sibling currently in charge." She motions towards her desk, "I was just looking up and tabulating the information I currently have on the condition of our male sibling."

Luna nods, "Good, now come on." And with that, the duo walks out of the room.

Lisa joins up with their waiting siblings, before rubbing her eyes and asking, "So, has anything come up about our missing siblings?"

" _Dangit."_ Worry begins to fill Luna, _"What am I gonna tell her?"_ Yet, she calms herself down and lies, "Yeah… everything's fine on their end." She looks away from her sister; "They just wanna run some tests before sending him home."

For a moment, Lisa breathes a sigh of relief, pushing away her skepticism.

The young woman-in-charge knocks at the next hotel room door, "Hey Lucy, it's time to stop talking to the spirits and come out for breakfast!" She waits for an impatient moment, before turning to Leni, "Leni, I need you to pick this lock too!"

"I'm right here." Lucy declares, her sudden appearance causing her six siblings to jump back in shock.

"Lucy! Don't do that!" Luna angrily shouts, "I don't need anyone else going to the hospital because you gave them a heart attack!"

"Hey Luna, lay off her." Luan speaks up tiredly, "She can't help but be a **spook!** "

Luna's annoyed glare is all Luan needs as a response.

"Sigh." The Gothic girl then walks over and places her hand in Luan's hand; no doubt she'll be easier to notice that way.

"Good." Luna looks away from her sisters, before walking over to the twin's room and attempting to repeat the process… only to hear the two siblings to begin running around after she knocks on the door. "Hey! What's goin' on in there?!"

No response comes, besides the sounds on two young girls trying to hide whatever random mess they had made.

"Leni?" The incumbent leader turns to her only present older sister.

The current eldest sister nods, "You got it sis!" before she hands Lily over to Luan and pulls out a spare bobby pin. She then quietly approaches the door and gets to work. A few short moments pass, before the keycard-based lock pops open, revealing the mess of a room, with the twins standing in the middle of it all… with the largest and most pained smiles they could possibly muster.

"Hey guys!" Lola nervously greets, holding her hands behind her back as she does so.

Luna stares at them for a moment, before finally asking, "What were you two doing?"

"Nothing!" They respond in unison, coming closer as they do so.

"What's behind your back?" Their leader crosses her arms in skepticism.

"Nothing there either!" Lana shouts, pulling her arms out from behind her, while Lola keeps her hands behind her back.

"Seriously?" Luna raises an eyebrow, "And you Lola?"

Lola immediately responds by shaking her head. "I'm not hiding anything!"

"Well then, what's behind your back?" Luna steps closer to her menacingly, prepared to do whatever it takes to reveal he truth.

"Uhh…" she quickly looks around. Yet, nothing catches her eye

"Come on, I need you to-" Luna starts, only for Luan to grab her hand.

Luan's voice is filled with a concerned annoyance, "Luna, calm down! This isn't like you at all!"

Luna throws Luan's arm off and stares at her younger sister, "Whatever, come on, we need to eat breakfast."

And with that, Luna leads her younger sisters downstairs to eat their first meal of the day.

 _ **Back at the hospital…**_

After eating their cheap meal, the two remaining sisters had back up to their lone brother's room… where they find a middle-aged man standing by, with a nurse by his side.

"Well Mr. Loud, so far your condition has begun to interest me." The middle-aged man's voice is filled with a soft curiosity, a sharp contrast to the cold demeanor he had earlier. He calmly pulls out a flashlight and a photo of Lincoln's skull. "You see-"

"Uhh… who are you?" Lori nervously approaches the man, eliciting a small glare from him.

He quickly turns to her and recomposes himself, "I am the young man's assigned doctor." He quickly adjusts his demeanor, giving himself the cold air of authority, "I assume you are his mother?"

Lori shakes her head, "No… I'm just his older sister." She looks at her kid brother.

"I see." The doctor holds his clipboard at his side, "Are you his medical surrogate?"

The young woman nods, "Yeah… our parents left me in charge of him for the time being."

"Interesting." The man whispers, before turning away and motioning for her to sit down, "I was just about to explain the situation as it stands, he motions towards Lynn, "If you would please leave, I will begin."

"What?!" Lynn throws her arms up, "Why can't I stay?! I'm his sister for crying out loud!"

"Hippa law, only people involved in patient's care can know what's going on unless-" He starts, only for Lincoln to speak up.

"Please doc, can she stay?" his voice is filled with a quiet, child-like begging.

"Very well." The man nods, straightening his back as he does so. Without another word, he holds up the image once more and glances over it, "As you can see, your CT scans show that you don't have any lasting damage from banging your head against the bedside table."

The three children breathe sighs of relief at the news.

"However…" Dr. Thomas continues, "We still don't know the source of the seizures, I'm waiting on the toxicology and blood tests, which should be completed in a few hours." He looks at Lincoln with a fatherly gaze and speaks with a calm tone, "Do you have any questions?"

"No." Lincoln shakes his head, his once tense nerves slowly calming down.

"I do." Lori speaks up, "Do you have an idea of what it could be?"

Dr. Thomas sighs, "As it stands, I have no idea. Most likely it'll be something neurological in nature… but if the CT Scan is right… there are no growths present in the area."

"Very well." He places the charts as well as all accompanying documents in the bed's foot container, before turning and walking out of the room, "If you need anything, you know what to do."

After that, Lynn nervously approaches her brother with, "So uhh… how are you doin' Linc?"

"I'm fine Lynn." He yawns, "A bit tired is all." He then looks to their eldest sister, "So Lori, sod you know when the others are comin' by?"

" _I completely forgot about them…"_ Lori quickly shakes her head and pulls her phone out in response. "I'll uhh… I'll see if they're not a complete mess to come here…" She glances at the screen… only to find it displaying 42 missed messages, "Wow that's a lot of messages… ok then, uhh… twelve missed from Luna, six from Luan, four from Lucy, three from Lisa, eight from Leni, four from Lana, four from Lola, and one from Lily." before she thinks, _"And none from mom and dad…"_

"Uhh… I don't think that's a good sign." Lincoln's voice gains a soft fear to it.

"No… I don't think so either." Lori shoves the device in her pocket and turns to her athletic sister, "Lynn, I gotta go check up on the other right about now, can I trust you to take care of Linc while I'm gone?" Soft pain fills Lori's chest with that… as if she is silently begging that Lynn would respond, "no."

Yet, Lynn nods, "No problem Lori." Then she turns to Lincoln and gives him a playful punch, "It's just you and me again bro."

"Ok…" Lori whispers, before turning and walking out of the bedroom.

"So, I guess we'll just have to play the waitin' game huh." Lynn hops into one of the nearby chairs.

Lincoln nods, "I guess… I mean it's not like there's much we can do besides that."

Lynn grabs the nearby remote with that, "Then how about we put on some Blarney, I'm sure we can pass the time with that!"

"Heh, sure Lynn, hit it!" And with that, the athletic sister turns on the TV, causing the image of an Irish dinosaur to pop up.

* * *

" _So… no Vanzilla huh?"_ Lori immediately rubs her chin and approaches the nursing station, "Uhh hey… I need to go home, but I don't have a car…"

The two nurses look at each other for a moment, before one- a rather large woman- speaks up, "How'd you get here?"

"I came in an ambulance…" She nervously responds, before motioning towards the room her brother is staying in, "And well… I don't know the way back to the place I'm staying…"

The other nurse- a lean woman- then picks up the phone, "Would you want us to call you a cab?"

"Yes please." She calmly responds, and the nurse immediately types in a number.

"Yes… I need a cab for a patient's family member… ok then. She's a blonde, teenage girl ok? Great!" She places the device back in its receiver, "The cab's downstairs, waiting for ya."

"Really?!" Lori perks up, "Thanks!" while she thinks, _"At least I'll be able to get the girls here… I hope the doctors figure out what's going on soon…"_

The nurses wave her off, before the larger one continues, "No problem. It's our job to make sure everyone gets home safe."

And with that, Lori smiles, before walking away. It takes her a few short minutes of searching, but eventually she stumbles across her ride home.

The old thing is a worn yellow, with the fares listed on the side. There are tinted windows in the back, as well as an antenna jutting out behind the door.

"Uhh… did the nurses call you?" She speaks into the open passenger-side window.

The cabbie nods in response, "Come on in and I'll take ya."

"Ok… I'm going to 618 Gopher Road." She declares, before sliding into the seat, and buckling herself in.

And with that, they drive off.

 _ **A few minutes later…**_

*Honk!* The driver slams his hands against the car horn, though much to his dismay, the end-of-weekend Aloha Beach traffic doesn't lighten up.

"Dangit…" The man mutters, "I hate traffic." He adjusts his rear-view mirror, allowing him to see the young girl sitting behind him, "So uhh… it looks like we're gonna be here for a while…"

"Well that's great." Lori calmly responds, crossing her arms as she does so. _"Just gotta wait then… just gotta play the waiting game."_

"Wanna talk or somethin'? We've got time to burn after all." He continues, his voice gaining an amicable flare to it."

The young girl sighs, "It's not like I have a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice." He calmly responds, "We can sit by in silence if you'd like."

"I'd rather not." She sighs.

"Of course, so uhh… what brings you to the hospital today?" The man continues, his voice filling with a tactful softness.

"My brother's sick and we're just waitin' around to see what's goin' on with him." Lori turns and gazes on her window, allowing her gaze to fall upon the white sand beaches nearby.

The driver hesitates for a moment, "I see, so you're playin' the waitin' game huh?"

Lori doesn't respond, choosing instead to gaze out the nearby window.

An awkward air overtakes the vehicle, "Well uhh… I'm not sure what else to see uhh… got any hobbies?"

"Not really… I'm a bit busy with my siblings to have that much time to myself." Her voice trails off meekly.

"I see." The driver moves the car up one space, "Well, how bad can it be?"

"I've got nine sisters and a brother." Lori flatly responds.

"Whoa, don't your parents know what condoms are?!" The driver joking goes, "I mean, wow! I only had one brother!"

Lori chuckles, "Heh, some of us still ask that question, but we never bothered asking them and stuff…" her voice trails off again. "Heh… Lincoln would bring it up sometimes after sex-ed…"

The man's voice remains calm as he looks back at her, "You're really worried about your brother huh?"

"Course I am! Lori stares the man in the rear-view mirror, "What kinda sister would I be?"

"Probably one that…" He hesitates, preparing to pick his words wisely, "…just goes along with what's going on and stuff."

The girl responds with silence.

The cabbie thinks for a moment and snaps his fingers, "Ya know… my brother fancies himself a writer."

Lori simply looks away, uninterested in what he would say.

"Yeah… he hasn't finished his latest story yet though." He sighs, "He calls it, 'Unwavering bonds' and it's about a sister doing everything she could to save her brother and stuff."

The young girl looks at the cabbie, "What?"

"Heh, it's a story, a weird witch tries to kidnap a boy named Risebell, because love and stuff. But his sister Sam-"

"You know it's not that interesting, right?" Lori flatly cuts him off.

"Heh… of course." He sighs, "What I'm saying is, if you care for someone, it's only natural to feel worried about them." The traffic begins to clear up. "I haven't seen my brother in a while."

Lori turns back to him, though she doesn't speak.

"Yeah, the last time I saw him, he was getting on a plane to see the world." He sighs once more, his voice filling with nostalgia, "He promised that no matter what happened, we'd see each other again." The man's voice goes low, "And he asked me to finish his story cause he said he wouldn't be able to."

"Why are you even talking about this?" Lori finally goes, her patience run thin. "I mean… yeah."

"Simple." He responds, "I've been a cabbie for a few years now, and almost every time I've picked someone up from the hospital, they're like you." He taps his hands against the wheel, "Quiet, usually afraid of what's gonna happen and stuff." He turns his body to face her, "And no matter how many people are around you, you tend to feel alone, right?"

No matter how much Lori wants to deny it, even she can help but mutter, "Yeah…"

The man turns back in his chair, "So it's nice to know that someone's still around to help ya out and stuff. You're never alone."

"Thanks, I guess…" Lori's voice trails off, _"I guess he's right…"_ Though she continues to fight the urge to break down, _"Lincoln's fine… he's just tired."_

"Just remember, there will be people around to help you through your problems." Then his solemn voice gains a chuckle, "But love makes you do things for someone that you wouldn't otherwise."

"I guess you're right with that…"

The cabbie smiles, "So, how about you tell me about yourself?"

"I'd… I'd rather not." The girl hesitates.

"Don't worry, I understand." The traffic around them begins to clear up, as more people come off the highway, as a solemn air overtakes the car. "Life is strange, things will happen that you don't expect, but everything will be fine if you make the most of what time you have."

"Ok..." Lori's voice trails off, "I think I understand."

"Great." The man smiles again, before looking at the road in front of them.

And with that, the traffic clears up, just enough for the car to drive off.

1-20 20-8-5 5-14-4 15-6 25-15-21-18 16-1-20-8 25-15-21 23-9-12-12 6-9-14-4 19-15-13-5-15-14-5. 23-8-5-20-8-5-18 6-18-9-5-14-4 15-18 6-15-5, 20-8-5-25 23-9-12-12 11-14-15-23 25-15-21 1-14-4 25-15-21 23-9-12-12 11-14-15-23 20-8-5-13.

 **A/N And that was chapter 4! So tell me what you guys think! Given the rate at which I write these chapters, I'll update this every other week. So uhh, see you in 2 weeks!**

 **And as promised: Originally, this was gonna be Lola's chapter, and possibly would've involved a pageant, though given the way it is so far, that won't be for a while.**


	5. News, News And More News

**A/N Well I'm back, hey guys! It's about time I got to this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Five: News, News And More News

The noontime sun eventually falls upon the sunny town of Aloha Beach. Unlike what the previous night's weather had hinted at, the day is clear, with not a single cloud in the sky to obscure the sun.

Though, given the current state of the Loud Family's Hotel rooms, a tornado might as well have passed through!

"So, who's going to go first?" Luna pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, "I need to know why the heck Lincoln's room is a mess even though he wasn't even in it last night!" She points at the open door- mistakenly open when Luna ordered Leni to pick the lock.

The remaining seven sisters remain silent for a moment, each of them silently hoping that another would speak up.

Luna crosses her arms in annoyance "None of us are going anywhere until someone fesses up! I do not need someone-"

Luan cuts her off by stepping forward, "Luna, calm down." She holds her hands in front of the slightly older woman and motions for her to release, "We were going to breakfast when you decided to bring us back up to make sure we didn't forget anything." She puts on a soft smile, "Can't we handle this when Lori comes back?"

"What?" Luna turns to face Luan briskly, "Do you think I can't handle my sisters while our older sister is gone? Huh?!" She points her finger at her, "Come on, spill! You did it didn't you?! You don't think I can-"

"Luna!" Lola shouts, "You're really bossy! You're probably even bossier than me! You need to cool it!"

Lana immediately responds, "Luna? Bossier than you?" She throws her head back in laughter, "Haha! That's an actually funny joke, funnier than most of Luan's puns!"

"Hey!" Lola turns to her twin and jumps, immediately throwing punches as she does so.

"Girls! Sto-" Luna starts, only for Lucy to suddenly appear at her side, "Luna, I believe I we can come to a compromise before the breakfast buffet is gone."

"G'ahh!" Luna jumps up in fear before immediately recomposing herself and staring at the Gothic girl, "Ugh, fine. What's your idea Lucy?"

"I think we should handle this when Lori comes back." She flatly responds, "It seems you're putting yourself under more stress than you need to."

"Like, I think that's a good idea too." Leni speaks with a motherly care while she shrugs in agreement. "After all, you know Lori is great at getting the truth out of us." She chuckles, "One way or another."

For a moment, Luna hesitates, the urge of simply giving in fighting her feeling of keeping control. Though, she eventually sighs and nods, "Fine, we'll deal with this later." While she thinks, _"Lori is gonna kill me when she gets back. I haven't even been in charge for a whole day yet, and I'm already screwing up!"_

She stands up straight and continues, "All right then, everyone, downstairs, it's breakfast time!" she then points at the end of the hall, "Now go!"

And with that, the rest of the Loud Sisters turn and begin their way down the hall… while Lisa stands buy, tiredly tapping away at her phone.

"Lisa." Luna walks over and takes a knee in front of her little sister, "You ok?"

Lisa snaps out of the trace she had put herself in and nods, "Yes, I am perfectly fine." She yawns in exhaustion, "I was just up late running calculations and the like."

"Ok then." She stands up, "Now follow the others, it's time for breakfast."

"At 11:30?" Lisa continues.

"Yes. Now go!" She points at the group of sisters.

"Understood." Lisa promptly turns and runs as quickly as her tired little legs can take her.

" _So far so good."_ Luna then follows.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

After close to an hour of driving through the busy town, the traffic on the freeway notwithstanding, a small, black-painted car stops in front of the small hotel. From what the young passenger could see, nothing of interest awaited her outside, _"Well, it looks like Luna didn't burn down the hotel at least."_ She lets out a deep breath.

"We're here." The cabbie declares, his soft voice heating up the already sweltering vehicle.

"Thanks." Lori grabs her pocketbook and pulls out a small, sky-blue wallet, "So uhh… how much do I owe ya?"

"No charge mate." He waves her off, before unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to face the girl, "United Star has an agreement with my company, so we work for free so long as the hospital pays for our rides. All we need is a valid signature and ID for proof." He pulls out a small receipt, "Do ya mind?"

"Not at all." Lori then takes the paper and signs it quickly, before handing it back to the man, "So uhh… do I need to do anything else?"

He shakes his head, "Not at all…" He unlocks the doors, and continues, "Though… before you go, would you mind if I gave you something?" he rubs the back of his head.

Lori tilts her head in confusion, "What is it?"

"Let me show ya." His voice fills hope as he goes into the car's glove box and pulls out a small, tan folder, "You see… my brother left me the only copy of his story to finish cause he knew wouldn't be able to…" The man looks at the folder for a moment, as if hesitating his next actions, "And well… since you're the first to actually listen to what I was saying…"

"What do you want?" The young woman lets out a soft breath and asks with a slightly impatient tone.

With begging eyes, he presents the folder to her, "I want you to take his story off my hands."

"No." She shakes her head, "I'm sorry, but something like that isn't my thing." She looks at him with eyes denial.

And yet, the cabbie responds with his own, begging, gaze, "Please, I know I just met you and I know I will probably never see you again, but please take it off my hands… Please…"

" _He's really desperate…"_ Lori thinks, before she quietly takes the envelope in her hands.

"I don't care what you do to it." He lets out a deep breath, "But I know I'll never be able to finish my brother's work… feel free to throw it away if you want… but it would mean the world to an old man if you finished it for him." He lets out a deep breath.

"Ok…" Lori tucks the envelope under her arm, before simply turning and getting out of the cab. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." The man smiles, as he watches the young woman walk away. He waves goodbye, before taking a deep breath, and pulling out a small paper and reading, "To whom it may concern… we regret to inform you…"

* * *

" _Everything is gonna be all right."_ Lori takes a deep breath and clutches her bag as she walks into the hotel lobby. The workers pay the young woman no mind as she calmly walks passed them, much to her relief. _"Now where the heck are those girls?"_

She walks into the conjoining hallway and closes her eyes, _"Just gotta listen for them, and I'll find them soon enough."_

And surely, a small ruckus emanates from a nearby room, _"Jackpot."_ She turns quickly and secures her grip on her bag, before walking forward, approaching a set of double doors, _"I wonder why they're eating breakfast this late."_ She slowly pushes the set open and glances inside… only to find Luna doing her best to keep things in order.

"Lola! Please stop trying to clean Lana up!" She rushes over to the twins and pries them apart, "Seriously! Can't you guys go ten minutes without starting a fight with each other?!"

"She tried getting leftover mud and sand on me!" Lola claws at Luna's arm, while Lana simply leans back, "And I don't like her princess farts on my stuff!"

Luna facepalms in annoyance, "Ugh, you guys!" She turns, only to catch sight of Lisa starting to set some materials on fire with a Bunsen Burner, "Lisa!"

"Hmm?" The young girl turns to the woman-in-charge, "Can I help you elder sibling?"

"What the heck are you doing?!" She flares her arms up in annoyance, "And where the heck did you get a flame pipe from?!"

"I'm currently testing the samples I have acquired with fire in hopes that I will uncover an answer to our male sibling's current situation." She secures a set of thongs to a test tube, "If I've seen enough of inane television programs, I know that the doctors present will not find out until it's too late."

The young woman facepalms, "Yes, but do you have to burn samples of whatever that is at the breakfast table?! We're not at home ya know!" She motions towards a small beaker filled with a miscellaneous fluid.

"It's not poop." Lisa immediately responds, "It's a solution of body fluids."

"Lisa, that's disgusting, stop." Luna flatly goes, crossing her arms as she does so.

"Well I guess you just got, burned!" Luan cuts in, affectionately nudging Luna as she does so, "Get it?"

Luna responds by simple staring at Luan in annoyance, "Not the time Luan! This is **not** the time!"

"Like ok, it's eleven fifty-four, when is it that time?" Leni cheerfully asks as she points at a nearby wall clock, "I'm sure it'll be time when Lori comes in, right?"

"Right." Lori walks over with that.

"See?" Leni motions towards her only older sister, "Is now the time for jokes? Lori's here!"

A moment of silence passes, before the realization hits the Loud Children, with them shouting in unison, "Lori!"

Lana is the first to jump from her seat and run over to the young woman with, "You're back!"

Yet, not to be outdone, Lola hops as well and trails behind, "What's going on with Lincoln?!"

And soon enough, the other Louds join in the chase, each of them desperate to get a response from their older sister, the young woman just barely able to keep the crowd at bay as she tries to answer desperately, "Girls! Calm down and I'll tell you everything!"

The young girls calm down, allowing their eldest member to speak, "Ok girls, you guys know Lincoln was taken to the hospital last night."

"Yeah! Why is he there, and where's Lynn?!" Lola shouts in annoyance, "We wanna know!"

Lori motions for the young girl to calm down, "Calm down Lola." She pushes her away, "Give me some space and I'll tell ya how things are going."

The sisters respond by backing away.

"Ok." Lori takes a deep breath, "Apparently Lincoln had a seizure last night, that's why he passed out and banged his head on the nightstand."

"That explains the erratic behavior and exhaustion… probably." Lisa whispers and rubs her chin, _"That will make my search significantly easier to undertake."_

"Do you have any ideas on what could be going on, Lisa?" Lori tilts her head in curiosity and the four-year-old shrugs in response. "Ok then." Lori looks up, "As for Lynn, I left her with Lincoln to keep him company, right now they're running some tests hoping they can get an idea of just what is going on with him. Any questions?"

Lucy suddenly appears, startling the girls, "Will we be allowed to visit him anytime soon?" Her voice is filled with a fearful begging. "You know… so we can make sure he's all right and stuff?"

Lori nods, "Yeah. I'll be takin' ya guys over there later. I just wanna get some stuff handled back upstairs ok?"

"Great." Lucy smiles, before disappearing just as abruptly as she appeared.

"Now then, how has Luna been keeping things?" Lori finally asks, her voice filled with a skeptical hope. "I'm sure things haven't gone too crazy, right?"

"Like, I think she was doing great! But she's worrying too much!" Leni immediately responds, her smile not wavering at all.

"Huh." Lori looks at Luna, in indifference, "I see, ok then." She looks at the young girls, "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

For a moment, the air around them fills with a soft fear, before the girls simply shake their heads, unsure of whether or not to spill what happened the previous night.

"Ok then, head upstairs, I'll be in my room makin' some calls if anyone needs me." Lori turns, and simply walks away, with the others quietly following behind.

* * *

"I'm sure everything's gonna be fine, Lincoln." Lynn assures her brother as the doctors wheel his bed through the halls, "After all, we've been here before!"

"Heh, yeah, after that soccer ball hit me, right?" Lincoln chuckles, "Yeah…"

Lynn playfully punches his arm, "Now you better not cry on me bro, or I'll tell Ronnie Anne she's dating a wimp wimpier than a wimp!"

Lincoln chuckles, "Hey! How'd you know about me and Ronnie Anne?"

The young woman chuckles, "I didn't, you just told me." She throws her head back in laughter, while she holds onto the hospital bedside, "Though, I guess that explains where you always go after school."

"Well, ya got me Lynn." He chuckles. "You got me better than Luan."

"Everyone can get ya better than Luan." Lynn corrects, "But hey, she tries."

The accompanying nurse turns the bed right- down yet another corridor before finally stopping in front of a small room labeled, "Magnetic Resonance Imagining Laboratory".

"We're here you two." The light-skinned nurse from before declares, before motioning for Lincoln to stand, "I need you to walk, ok?"

Lincoln nods and quickly gets out of the bed, "Ok, so what's next?"

"This." The nurse pulls the needle in the young boy's arm out, "No metal allowed." She motions for him to walk inside, "Now come on."

The two children look at each other, while Lynn simply responds, "Go ahead bro, everything's gonna be just fine with me around." She smiles at him.

Though Lincoln can't help but feel a sense of dread as he follows the nurse inside.

She motions towards the small metal bed, "I need you to lie down here ok, and I'll start the test."

Lincoln worriedly nods and does so.

"Don't worry Lincoln." Lynn places a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder while his line slowly moves into the device.

She then walks around and into the nearby lab room, "So uhh... what's the test?"

"Just another scan of his brain." The nurse answers, "While the CT scan couldn't find anything, it couldn't hurt to try something else."

"Oh… ok then." Lynn shrugs, turning towards her brother as she does so, "Do you think this'll help you find out what's going on with him or something?"

She shrugs, "We never know something's gonna work until after we try it." The nurse declares, "But hey, it never hurts to have hope." She turns to Lynn and smiles, "After all, it's good to have faith that everything's gonna be all right."

"Yeah…" Lynn's voice trails off, "Everything's gonna be all right."

A few minutes of silence pass with that only to be broken by the nurse declaring, "Ok Lincoln, you're done!"

"Heh that was easy." He quips as the metal bed is pulled out of the machine.

"Course, sometimes things are easy and other times, things are painful." The nurse motions for him to get back in the bed, "Now if you would like-"

"Would it be all right if I walked back to my room?" Lincoln calmly asks as he turns and hops on his feet.

"Let me wheel you back and then you'll be free to walk around, ok?" She speaks with a soft, motherly tone, "If rather not get in trouble for ignoring hospital policy."

"Ok then." Lincoln complies, and the nurse immediately wheels the young boy back to his room. After that, she simply smiles, secures the results under her arm and walks out of the room without another word.

"So, how are ya feelin', bro?" Lynn nonchalantly comes up at his side. "Was it scary being in that machine or something?"

"Still nervous, thanks Lynn." The boy smiles at his sister.

"For what?" She tilts her head in curiosity.

Lincoln chuckles, "You know, for being there and stuff."

Lynn playfully punches his arm again, "I'm your sister! What kind would I be if I decided that I should just run and leave my bro behind when he's afraid and stuff?!"

"A pretty bad one to say the least." He chuckles his response.

"So…" The girl rubs her chin, "You feelin' hungry bro? I mean that hospital food is really bad and stuff. Would you like me to get you something fresh?" Her voice perks up in excitement.

"Sure Lynn." Lincoln smiles again, before motioning at the goo left on his table, "After all, I think I just saw that thing move." He then shoves his hand inside and begins making it dance ever so slightly.

Lynn chuckles, before turning and rushing out of the room, "Ok then! I'll get you a meatball sub Lincoln!"

"Haha." Lincoln chuckles as well "You do that." He leans back and smiles, "You do that, Lynn." He turns his head towards the clear window out of his room. _"I wonder if there are any other kids here… the doc did say that this is a pediatric ward."_

He gazes out the window for a moment, allowing the business of the outside to flow into his room… and yet, a peculiar sight is still able to catch his eye. Across the hall, he could see a young girl, with unusually white hair.

And for a moment, he can swear she looks at him as well. _"Is that the other white-haired patient Dr. Thomas mentioned?"_ He shakes his head and leans back against his bed once more. _"Ehh, it's probably nothing."_

* * *

"So, how did it feel to be in charge for one night?" Lori leans over the hotel balcony, her voice filling with nostalgia as she looks out into the midday sky, though from the clock, it would soon hit midafternoon.

"Hard, lots of screaming involved." Luna shamefully responds, shaking her head as she does so "How do you do it?"

Lori chuckles, before turning around and leaning back against the bar, " I never know. I just, go with the flow ya know." She looks at Luna with a soft, understanding gaze, "So how are you holding up?"

"Fine... I guess." Luna looks away, "Lincoln's gone and no one knows what to do." She turns to Lori, "By the way, where are mom and dad?"

For a moment, Lori hesitates, unsure whether or not to answer the question. "Not sure Luna…"

Luna raises a curious eyebrow, "What do you mean, Lori?"

"Simple, they told me they were going, told me a vague place they were planning on heading, and ran before I could respond."

"Is it a bit coincidental that Lincoln had a seizure at the same time our parents decided to leave?" Luna raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I guess, it's probably just a coincidence, after all, how often do they leave anyway? So it's probably some last-minute plans they didn't account for." Lori responds, making sure to stand up and turn around once again.

"Ok then." Luna turns to face the open world in front of the balcony as well, "So... are you worried?"

"About Lincoln?" Lori looks at her sibling.

"No duh." She looks at her in response, "He is the only one in the hospital after all."

"I'm not worried at all, I left him with Lynn after all!" Lori chuckles her response.

"But why though?" Luna raises an eyebrow, "Wouldn't she just mess with him and stuff?"

"Most would expect that from her, but when you get right down to it, Lynn really does care for Lincoln." She looks at Luna with a nostalgic smile, "Though she'll only show that side of her behind closed doors, she told me 'I gotta protect my image'." The young woman chuckles. "Plus, everything's always gonna be all right in the end."

"How do you know?" Luna tilts her head in confusion, "Ya know, if she's hiding everything? And that everything's gonna be fine?"

"Easy. The first rule of being a leader is to know who you're working with." She turns around and leans back against the balcony fence, "Since I basically helped raise you guys, I know everything I need to know about you."

"Oh really?" Luna chuckles, "What's my favorite color?"

"Maroon. But since the store didn't have that color you settled to get purple." Lori chuckles and stands up, while Luna looks on in awe, "As for how I know everything's gonna be all right…" She rubs the back of her head, "I don't. But it helps things if you stay positive about what's going on with your life." She then turns and walks away, "Now come on, let's go visit Lincoln before it gets too dark out."

Luna nods and follows, and within a few more moments, the remaining Loud Sisters are down in the family Van. Lori shoves the keys in the ignition and drives off.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"You sure everything's gonna be ok?" Lincoln nervously asks, as the nurse runs a small cotton swab in his mouth.

"Of course Lincoln." She quickly runs it through, "We're just trying to come up with ideas of what your condition could be.

Lincoln worriedly nods, making sure to glance at Lynn for whatever comfort she can provide, "Ok then, thanks."

"Don't worry, I'm sure these results will be back soon enough!" the nurse then quickly walks out of the room with her newfound sample in hand. "Weird nurse huh?" he turns to his slightly older sister, "What do you think Lynn?"

"Ehh, you get used to it." She quips, "When you get down to it, they have to be caregivers to lots of different patients, so it's only a given, that some are gonna be weird."

"Heh, true." Lincoln chuckles. "Still, it'd be nice if I didn't feel like one of Lisa's guinea pigs."

"You're not, remember?!" Lynn throws her arms up for emphasis. "Mom and dad made sure you'd never-"

"Course." Lincoln cuts her off with a soft smile, "But the feeling is still there ya know. After all, we were all her guinea pigs at one point.

Lynn shrugs, "Ehh, that is true and stuff." She takes a seat in the nearby chair, "Well, at least things are all right." She rubs her chin, "It's getting late though… where are the others?"

"Lincoln!" The remaining nine sisters rush into the hospital room their lone brother is resting.

" _Well speak of the devil."_ Lynn chuckles and hops to her feet.

Lincoln beams with excitement as his ten siblings quickly surround him. "Hey guys!"

"We were so worried for ya!" Lana jumps on the boy's bed.

"Haha! I'm fine Lana, really I am!" Lincoln chuckles, while Lola jumps on the bed next to him, "Why'd you try to scare us like that?!"

"I didn't, I don't know what happened." Lincoln motions for her to calm down.

"Poo-poo!" Lily shouts, flailing her arms in excitement as she does so.

"Don't worry Lily, the doctor and nurses told me everything's gonna be all right." He takes her in his hands and rubs her belly, "They just wanna run tests to make sure that nothing's coming up that they don't know about and stuff.

"So, how are ya feelin' bro?" Luna cheerfully asks, rubbing Lincoln's head as she does so.

"Heh, I'm feelin' fine sis." The young boy chuckles in response, "A bit tired from all the tests, but fine for the most part."

Luan chuckles, "Well that's one test I'm sure you can't fail!" eliciting a groan from her siblings.

"No matter what, we'll always be there for ya!" Leni adds, taking Lily from her brother.

And with that, the young Louds simply talk, doing their best to make the most of an uncertain situation.

A few hours pass as they speak, given the scare, no one would be surprised…

"Hello there." A familiar voice finally calls out, causing the group of ten to turn to the source- a middle-aged man carrying a small clipboard, "I am safe to assume that you are this young boy's family?

Lori nods, "Yeah, these are our sisters." She motions towards the rest of the group.

"Big family." His voice fills with a soft professionalism. The room's air fills with a broken heat, as he simply stands in the doorway, as if contemplating his next movements with absolute care, "I have come to deliver the results of your tests."

"Great!" Lynn runs up to the man, "Is our brother gonna be ok?!" he adjusts his posture and stands up straight.

"Yeah doc, we're really worried for him!" Luna adds on, with the other sisters expressing similar feelings. For a moment, he looks at the oversized family of his young patient, seemingly asking himself whether or not to continue on.

The man's professional expression softens into a soft smile, "Yeah, he's gonna be all right." He raises the clipboard, "I'm just here to uhh… give the results of his tests, and then I'll see about sending him home, ok?"

"Awesome!" Lana shouts, before she jumps from the young boy's bed, "So what's goin' on with him?"

Dr. Thomas swallows rather hardly, forcing himself to use the right words to handle the situation. And yet, without breaking a professional demeanor, he continues, "While I would like to tell you more about what's going on with your brother's condition. Government policy mandates that only he, his current guardian and those involved in his care are allowed to hear about this."

"Lori!" Lola jumps from her place on the bed shouts, "Can't we stay?"

"Can she stay doc?" Lori tilts her head at the doctor.

"No, I'm sorry." He calmly responds, eliciting a shrug from the young woman.

"Sorry Lola." She looks down at her sister, "If the doctor says so, then you gotta go. Don't worry, I'm sure everything is gonna be all right."

"Ok then…" Lola goes, before the rest of the girls walk out of the room begrudgingly.

Though, Lucy break off from the group after they walk out of the room, though, no one notices her departure.

After that, the middle-aged man closes the room door and flips the blinds closed, careful to check that no one is eavesdropping on the conversation.

With that, the man turns to the two siblings resting nearby.

"So… how are you feelin' Lincoln?" He asks with a calm, father-like voice.

"Fine I guess." He shrugs, "Still got this needle in my arm and stuff." He motions towards the appendage.

"Good, good." He walks over to them, "That's really good."

Lori tilts her head in confusion, "You ok doctor? You seem a bit out of it and stuff."

The man looks at the young woman with a begging gaze. Just a few hours prior, he had breathed an air of both experience and nonchalance, of an uncaring man who saw them as nothing more than patients… then of curiosity and hope, and now… he seemed broken in a way. It is as if he is silently begging for someone to take this job from his hands and give it to else.

I'm fine, just… trying to get my head in the game." He sighs in defeat, "I just got assigned here cause there was an opening, though I used to work with adults."

"Uh-huh, ok then." Lori looks at her brother and shrugs, before tilting her head at the man, "So uhh, get to the point I guess?"

The man lets out another deep breath, "Well… I guess I should just, make this is quick and painless as possible…" He lifts up his clipboard.

The room's air becomes heavy, and the doctor's hand trembles. "Lincoln…" He used the plank to cover his face, "You have Systemic Lupus Erythematpsus."

"Systemic Lupus Ery-what?" Lincoln tilts his head in confusion.

 _"I'm gonna have to explain it now huh…"_ He painfully thinks, before securing his clipboard under his arm, "Your immune cells have begun to attack your other cells basically."

Silence overtakes the room for a moment.

"Confused?" He looks into the young boy's eyes, the latter silently begging for him to continue. The doctor sighs once more, "Simply put… you're dying."

Horror overtakes Lincoln's expression, while Lori can't help, but hold onto him, desperate to keep him from panicking.

"I know it's hard to grasp… but you know… you should count yourself lucky." Dr. Thomas' voice gains a soft warmth to it.

Neither sibling chooses to respond.

"Your condition usually hides itself as multiple other diseases… usually taking months of tests to discover." He lets out a deep breath, "But we decided to follow your white hair, hoping that would give us a hint as to what's going on with ya, and well… from what I can tell… it doesn't."

Lori clutches Lincoln's hand tighter, "…How long does he have, doc?"

"I'm not a god… I'm just a man." He responds, "An estimate? I can't say… most cases are different in some way shape or form. Though… given that he's started having seizures mean his condition is already effecting his brain… you know what happens when that goes."

"Is there anything you can do doctor?" The young woman continues, her voice filling with a concerned pain, "I mean, after all there's always-"

"I know, there's always an option." He sighs, and stands up, "In this case, I'd say the best choice is to put him on medicine that will slow the progression of the condition… but given its nature, I'm not sure it'll do much besides simply prolong the inevitable." He looks at them and finishes, "I'm sorry… there isn't much we can do."

Lincoln remains silent, as if trying to understand the news desperately.

"So… is there anything we need to know about this?" Lori looks on with begging eyes.

"The condition will progress throughout his body of time, soon enough he skin will start to rash, he'll start to have pains in all regions of the body, fevers, fatigue and the like, it'll progress until memory loss takes hold." He adjusts his collar.

For a moment, both children look on with uncertainty, before Lori simply nods, "Thank you doctor."

"If you need anything else, feel free to call." He then turns and walks out of the room calmly

The duo simply sits by for a few moments, with neither knowing just how to take the news… and yet, eventually Lincoln lets out a deep breath, "Lori…"

"Yeah?" She turns to her ailing brother.

"Where are mom and dad?" his voice is filled with a begging hope.

Lori shakes her head, "I don't know… they told me they were heading out and then left. I haven't been able to do anything to get a hold of them yet."

Lincoln looks away, "So what are we gonna do now?"

"Let's break it to them slowly… we need to let the girls take it in one at a time or else… I don't know what'll happen."

"Ok… ok…" Lincoln nods, and he clutches his sister's hand tighter, "Please don't leave me…"

Lori nods, "I won't… do you wanna say goodnight to the girls?"

He shakes his head and looks at him with pleading gaze.

"Ok Linc." She pulls out her phone and texts the girls, " _ **Hey Luna, ask the nurses to call a cab for ya guys. The doctors wanna observe Lincoln tonight and Lincoln's asked me to stay. -Lori"**_

A few moments pass, before a response finally comes, " _ **Ok then… is he all right? Can we say bye before we go and stuff? –Luna"**_

 _ **"Nah, he's really tired right now. You'll see him in the morning. –Lori"**_

 _ **"Ok then… see ya in the morning! –Luna"**_ And with that text, Lori shoves the phone in her pocket.

6-5-5-12 20-8-5 7-18-1-19-19 1-20 25-15-21-18 6-5-5-20 1-14-4 5-14-20-5-18 20-8-5 7-1-18-4-5-14. 20-8-5-18-5 25-15-21 23-9-12-12 6-9-14-4 19-15-13-5-20-8-9-14-7 23-1-9-20-9-14-7.

 **A/N That last scene was by far the hardest to come up with, meanly cause I was worried about its originality. Though, I got some opinions and I decided against the other version I had for it. I thank everyone who's given me their opinions and ideas for this! Also, updates will occur on Fridays/Saturdays every two weeks due to schooling issues.**


	6. Nighttime Follies

**A/N Man this is so late! If this happened at practice I'd probably get dropped for a hundred push ups! Anyways, this came late cause the update happened the same day as my last chem test and I needed to pass it to pass the class. Then, the week after was finals week… that's self explanatory. Couple those with a severe case of writer's block and that makes a chapter take forever to come out. But here it is! I stayed up until 2am writing this, I hope you enjoy!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Six: Nighttime Follies

"So, what's going on?!" Lola flares her arms up in annoyance, "Are we gonna go see him or what?!"

Luna shoves her phone in her pocket, "Easy now Love." she speaks was a soft, almost motherly voice, "The doctors wanna watch Lincoln tonight and they've asked Lori to stay with him. We're gonna see him in the morning."

"What are you talking about?!" Lynn steps forward with crossed arms, "I was with him all day! And he didn't seem tired at all!"

"Well I guess he's tired now." Luna speaks with an uncertain tone, _"Though, now that I think about it, why's Lori not saying anything?"_

"Really?" Leni looks on in confusion, "Like, can we say goodnight to him?"

Luna shakes her head, "Nope, apparently he doesn't wanna see anyone… or at least that's what it sounds like." Her voice trails off in confusion, _"Why wouldn't he wanna see us?"_

"What?! What'd we do?!" Lana shouts as she flares her arms out in frustration, "He's our brother! Why-"

Only for Lynn's shouting to top hers, "Luna! Why the heck isn't he letting us see him?!"

"Calm down guys, calm down." She motions for them to hold back, "She mentioned that we'll see him in the morning, so how about we wait until then to ask her anything, ok?" Yet, even she can't help but think, _"Strange…"_

"Besides girls, he's probably not **peeling** well!" Luan breaks through the confused air, holding up a banana to complete the pun… as well as cause her sisters to groan.

"Luan, this really isn't the time." Luna closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Seriously, we're in a hospital!"

Luan looks down in shame, "Aww." Only for Leni to turn to the nearby wall clock and respond, "Like, the big hand is on the ten and the little hand is on the one-two thingy. When is it time?"

"It won't be time Leni!" Luna facepalms, causing an audible slap to echo through the room. She groans, and pulls out her phone "All Lori told me is that we'll see him in the morning! There's nothing to it!"

"Well I've heard that spending time with someone in the hospital is a good idea!" Lola cuts in with rage filling her voice, "Especially when they['re stuck in a crummy place like this!"

"For once, I agree with science girl here." Lana crosses her arms and stares at Luna, "This is weird, maybe even weirder than the time I found Charles' water bowl in the toilet."

"Poo-poo!" Lily shouts as she waves her arms in agreement.

" _Yeah… why isn't she saying anything?"_ Luna thinks, before sighing in defeat, "Girls, calm down. I wish I could answer your questions, but I really don't know anything about Lincoln right now but I'm sure everything's gonna be all right."

She then turns to her six-year-old sister, "I don't know why…" And looking on with begging eyes, "But, I'm sure everything's gonna be all right. Let's just go back to the hotel, and I'm sure we'll find out what's wrong in the morning." She lets her arms fall limply at her sides, "Besides, I'm sure it's for the best."

"What are you talking about?!" Lola raises her fist at Luna, while Lynn steps forward with her fists at her sides. Lola continues, "Everything's gonna be fine if we visit him!"

Immediately, the rest of the girls begin to crowd around the incumbent leader, forcing her to hold up her arms in surrender. _"Crud, what am I gonna do?!"_ She steps back against the wall as her sisters begin to crowd around her.

"Siblings!" A young voice cuts through the noise filling the room, before a young girl in a green sweater steps out from the crowd, "I believe it is for the best that we return to our place of rest."

" _Thanks for the save."_ Luna mentally breathes a sigh of relief.

"Lisa, I think you've got your glasses on too tight." Lynn shakes her head in contempt, "Seriously, why shouldn't we visit him?"

Lisa simply adjusts her glasses, "On the contrary dear sister. Our parental units made sure to loosen my vision correction equipment before we partook in this trip.

"Well then, what's the worst that could happen if we visit him?!" Lana whines while Lola stares daggers at the younger girl.

"As it stands, only Lori is with him." She pulls out her calculator and begins to type." As you can imagine, eleven louds crammed into a small room without parental guidance makes for extremely hazardous conditions. After all, you saw how loud and crowded things got before the doctor walked in and told us to leave."

The other girls begin to talk amongst themselves, before Lisa continues, "Besides, studies show that the less time one spends in a cramped space, the quicker the recovery."

For a moment, the girls continue talking, before the group breaks and Lynn steps forward, begrudgingly crossing her arms, "Fine."

"Great." Luna breathes a sigh of relief, "I'll just have to get us a ride home now."

"Like… ok…" Leni goes in a slightly downtrodden tone, "But how? I can't drive."

Luna immediately pulls out her phone and re-reads Lori's message, "She told us to ask the nurses for a cab…" She glances at her siblings once more, "Or two."

"Why can't Lori just drive us home and come back?" Lola goes, seemingly preparing to start a tantrum. "You know how dirty those filthy cab seats can be!"

Luan crosses her arms and chuckles just a bit, "Yeah, and you think Vanzilla is any cleaner? That thing's so old, it fought a T-Rex!"

Lola's face goes red in embarrassment, before she shakes her head and turns away, "Whatever."

"Yeah, whatever guys." Luna turns and walks away, "I'll go get the cabs, give me a few and I'm sure everything will be ready… please stay out of trouble, just because we're in a hospital already, doesn't mean more of us have to end up in a bed." And with that, she walks into the next room.

Immediately, the Loud Children begin to talk amongst themselves, filling the waiting room with their noise… though the four-year sits back, with her mind going through the scenarios.

" _That doctor seemed concerned when he saw us. He tells us to leave with the excuse that it's private, believable enough."_ The puzzle seems to put itself together as she thinks more, though none of her siblings realize it, _"Then, presumably after delivering whatever news he had, Lori sends the message that Lincoln doesn't want visitors."_ Her eyes begin to go wide in realization, _"Something is going on with him. Just what is the question?"_ She darts her head for a moment, _"I need Lucy to watch them… where is she anyway?"_

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

 _"What are we gonna do?"_ Lori nervously thinks as she looks at Lincoln with a soft, motherly gaze. The young boy's eyes remain wide open from the news the doctor had given, while an indifferent expression holds on his face, _"Lincoln…"_

With a kind movement, she places her hand on Lincoln's hand, "Lincoln, don't worry, everything is going to be fine…"

Lincoln looks at Lori with soft, begging eyes for a moment, before simply looking away, and continuing to stare at the ceiling. For a moment, he considers saying something to her, but decides to remain silent.

" _Well... at least he's all right. For now at least."_ The young woman sighs, "Well… if you need me I'll… I'll be here." She then leans back in her chair. "I won't leave you."

"Ok…" Lincoln's voice trails off weakly.

And with that, the room's lights begin to dim, signaling curfew for the patients. "It's getting late Lincoln, how about you try to get some rest?"

Lincoln turns away and simply uses the bed sheets to cover him snug.

 ***Beep* *Beep*** A familiar sound cuts through the soft silence.

" _What the?"_ Lori immediately digs her hand into her pocket and pulls out a familiar device, _"Oh, just a few messages from Bobby."_

"What is it, Lori?" Lincoln turns to her with hope-filled eyes.

"It's just Bobby…" Lori shoves it back into her pocket, "Nothing big."

"Why don't you talk to him?" Lincoln suggests, "I haven't seen you text in a long while."

"Well, he's been in Canada with Ronnie Anne for the past month, and he doesn't get service up there." Lori flatly answers.

Lincoln continues with a begging voice, "Why don't you go talk to him? I'm sure he and Ronnie Anne would love to talk and stuff."

Lori shrugs, "They probably would, but what about you? I mean, what if-"

"Please Lori… I'll be fine." Lincoln holds onto her hand tightly, "Please, go talk to them." He gives her a thumb's up, "I just need some alone time now, ok?"

"Ok…" Lori's voice trails off, before she finishes "I'll be right outside if you need me."

"Thanks Lori."

And with that, Lori stands up and walks out of the room with her phones in hand. She quickly steps out of Lincoln's view and begins to browse her phone, _"Forty-two messages from Bobby? I wonder why I haven't heard them until now…"_

" _ **Babe, what's up? I'm back from Canada." –Bobby**_

Lori's hands tremble over the electronic keyboard for a moment, _"What should I type? Maybe…"_ Yet, before she can register what's going on, she types, _**"Nothing much, we're still in Aloha Beach so there's that." –Lori**_

" _ **Got it Babe. Do you know when you'll be back? I can't wait to see ya!" –Bobby**_

" _ **A few days I think. I can't wait to see you too Boo-Boo Bear!" –Lori**_

" _ **How's Lincoln doin'? I promised Ronnie Anne I'd bring them to the new arcade that's openin' up when you guys got back." –Bobby**_

" _Dangit, what do I tell him?!"_ Lori frantically types her response, _**"Lincoln's doing fine. He's just really tired right now so I can't get him on." –Lori**_

" _ **Well that's fine then. Wanna video chat? We haven't talked much since I left." –Bobby**_

" _ **No, no. We're really busy right now so…" –Lori**_

" _ **Oh… ok then. Talk in the morning Babe?" –Bobby**_

" _ **Sure Boo-Boo Bear."**_ Her typing speeds up as she finishes, _**"I gotta go now, see ya!" –Lori**_

" _ **See ya Babe!" –Bobby**_

And with that, she sighs and shoves the phone in her pocket. _"Well that could've been better."_

"Hello, Ms. Loud correct?" A nurse walks up to the young woman.

She immediately perks up, "Yeah?"

"I would like to have a word with you." She continues, motioning for her to follow. "This is about your brother's condition."

"It's important huh?" She tilts her head in curiosity.

"Just some basic information you'll need. You are this child's medical surrogate for the time being, correct?"

Lori nods, "Yeah, I am."

"If you'll just come with me, I'll show you everything you'll need to do to care for your sibling." She motions for the young woman to follow.

"Sure… just let me do one thing first." She holds up her finger, before turning and speaking into the room, "I'll be right back Lincoln, I have to talk to the nurse."

"Ok…" Lincoln tiredly responds, before he turns away from door and looks out the window. And with that, Lori simply follows the nurse to the nearby nursing station.

" _What am I gonna do?"_ Lincoln stares out into the star-filled night just outside his room. _"What are the girl's gonna do…"_ He quickly shakes his head, _"Whatever, everything's just fine. This is all just a bad dream and I'll wake up soon. Lori's just talking to the nurses, and when she gets back, she'll tell me that Luan decided to call this prank off."_ He mentally sighs, _"I wonder if she told Bobby what's going on. He'll probably call her out on making such a cruel joke, especially without telling mom and dad…"_

"Wait…" He whispers and quickly sits up with that, "Where the heck are mom and dad?!"

"Knock, knock." A feminine voice greets.

"Huh?" Lincoln immediately turns towards the voice. In the nearby glass doorway stands a young, white-haired girl dressed in a white hospital gown. She has a smug smile on her face, while she crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe. He tilts his head in confusion, "Uhh, hi there?"

"Hey." She continues with a smile. "What's up."

"What uhh… brings you here?" Lincoln nervously asks, as he leans his side in his bed, not allowing himself to break contact with his guest.

The young girl walks closer to him, "I saw you earlier."

"I did too." Lincoln calmly answers.

"So what's up?" The girl places her hands on the hospital bed.

Lincoln can only crawl back, while the girl climbs onto his bed, _"What the heck?! I need an adult!"_ While he can only stammer, "Wha-what are you doing?!"

"I'm just trying to have some fun." The girl laughs, "It's really boring around here. You gotta lighten up!" She playfully leans closer, "You're acting like you've never talked to a girl before!"

"Me?!" Lincoln shouts while his face goes red in embarrassment, "I'm not the one who just jumped on my bed randomly!"

"Huh." She rubs her chin, "I guess you're right."

Lincoln stares at her in annoyance, "Yeah, I know." He leans forward, forcing her back, "Now will you get off my bed?!"

"Ok, ok!" She complies and hops to her feet, before turning back to the boy.

"Now who the heck are you?!" Lincoln's voice is filled with annoyance, while he clutches his blanket.

"I'm Sambell." She rubs the back of her head, and blushes, "And well, I'm here because you interested me."

"Why?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow, "Because I have white hair too?"

Sambell nods, "Well, yeah." She quickly glances behind, "Well that, and the fact that all the other kids are asleep now and I've got no one else to talk to."

"Uh-huh."

"So well, uhh… wanna hang out or something?" She puts on a hopeful smile.

Lincoln doesn't hesitate to shake his head, "No thanks, I think I'll pass."

"Aww." Sambell whines, "Why not?" She flares her arms up in annoyance.

The boy raises his hands and begins counting on his fingers, "One, because I have no idea who you are. And two, because I have way too much on my mind right now."

"Like what?" she tilts her head in curiosity, as she leans closer to the boy, choosing to stand right at his bedside.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Sambell immediately gives an understanding nod, "Ah, no problem. It's personal huh?"

" _If my impending doom is a personal matter, than yes, it's personal."_ Lincoln thinks. Though his lack of audible response is more than enough for the girl.

She then stands up straight and rubs her hands together, "Well ok then. Uh…" Her voice trails off, "Wanna talk or something?"

"We're already talking." Lincoln flatly responds.

"Yeah, I know." She then turns and quickly runs over to the door, checking to make sure that they weren't being followed, "But I know a really nice place we can talk in peace. You know, without the doctors to stop us and stuff."

"Yeah… no. I'm good." The boy leans back and crosses his arms, _"After news like that, I'd rather not leave this room."_

"Come on!" Sambell continues, "It'll be fun." She puts her hands on her hips, "More fun than just sitting around doing nothing!" She motions for him to follow, "We won't even be out that long!"

"No."

"Not even if I throw in a snack from the vending machine?" She turns to the boy with begging eyes, "I know just how bad the hospital food is around here. So what do ya say."

" _I… I'm actually going to go along with this, aren't I?"_ Lincoln groans, "Fine, I'll go with you."

"Awesome!" Sambell shouts, before helping Lincoln out of his bed and pulling him out of the room.

 _ **Back with Lori…**_

Lori quietly follows the young nurse into the station, which consists of a small desk with a few computers and a small cart waiting nearby. "So uhh… what's going on?"

"We were asked to tell you what you have to do about your brother's… 'Condition' in order to care for him." She calmly answers, allowing Lori to nod in understanding.

"Ok then, so Dr. Thomas, rather unprofessionally, told me that he told you the various symptoms associated with this condition, correct?" The woman speaks with a professional monotone.

"That is correct." Lori, rather meekly, answers.

"Ok, so according to Dr. Thomas' he would like to prescribe oral Prednisone to help keep the inflammation under control and oral Diazepam to deal with the seizures. He is to take the Diazepam in the morning and the Prednisone before meals, ok?"

Lori looks on in confusion, though she nods.

"Don't worry, all of this information will be on the bottles we give you."

"Ok…"

"Also, it is important that you keep tabs on what symptoms he's showing." She continues by pulling out a small pamphlet, "Too much exposure to direct sunlight may cause a skin rash… Also, try to avoid pesticides, mercury and do try to give him a lot of rest. Ok?" The nurse's harsh voice begins to soften with that.

"Got it." Lori takes the orders and information packets in her arms, _"I think at least…"_

"Do you have any questions?" She finally asks, her voice filling with a soft and understanding heat.

"No…" Lori's voice trails off while her mind races, still desperate to process what had just occurred; hoping that this is all just a bad dream- yet, much to her dismay, it isn't. "Actually… when will he be going home?"

"The discharge papers just came in, he can leave whenever he's ready." She holds up a small paper, no doubt filled out with her brother's information.

"Ok… thank you nurse." Lori quietly responds, before turning around.

"Do you need someone to talk to?" The nurse asks, "It seems that you could-"

"No, no. It won't be necessary." Only for her eyes to fall upon the two children running out of the room, "Uhh… are they allowed to leave?"

"Hospital policy, so long as they're telling us where they're going, they're allowed to walk around a bit." She can't help but give a nostalgic smile, "It helps keep the younger kids in high spirits."

Lori sighs, "Well, I guess since my brother is going to be gone for a bit…" She looks at the woman, "How often do you deal with kids?"

"All the time, this is my assigned unit after all." The woman keeps a professional calm. "It's always nice to see a kid smile after being taken care of."

"Don't you, ya know, have something better to do besides talk right now?" Lori's voice trails off painfully.

The woman shakes her head, "No." She points at the clock, "It's late and since most of our patients are asleep, my job is easy. All we really need to do is check on them every now and then… and be ready in case something happens of course."

"Ok…" Lori rubs her arm in nervousness, "So uhh… what do you wanna talk about?"

"Anything really. It's our job to help you in any way we can." The woman motions towards the room her brother had been staying in, "Would you like to take a seat?"

"Sure…" Lori responds, before the duo walks back into the room and takes their seats.

 _ **Back With Lincoln…**_

"Where the heck are we going?!" Lincoln shouts, as Sambell drags him into an oversized hospital elevator.

"The roof!" She cheerfully shouts, as the doors close and the metal box speeds up to the top floor.

"Uhh, why?!" Lincoln tries to break free of the girl's grip… only to realize that she's much stronger than expected.

Sambell glances back at him with a smile; "Because it's the most private place around here!" She holds her arms up at her sides and gives a sly smile, "I mean, no cameras, no guards, heck, not even the janitor bothers going up there! It's perfect!"

Lincoln pinches the bridge of his nose with that, "Why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Because I promised you food." She holds up a small bag of chips, "And if you want these, you'll do as I say!" And with that, the elevator goes, ***Ding*** Before the oversized metal doors open up to yet another brightly lit floor.

"Now come on!" she then holds onto him tighter, and drags him out of the elevator again, though this time leading him up a random stairwell up to a secluded door… which she proceeds to tackle open, revealing the hospital roof.

"So, what do ya think?!" She holds her arms out for emphasis.

The hospital roof is, well, what one would expect to see. There are the AC units as well as the exhaust vents off in the middle, with bars around the edges to prevent falls, as well as… a toilet smack in the center of the darn thing.

Lincoln shrugs, "It looks nice and all." He then turns around, "But I think I'll just uhh… you know, get out of here. Also… what's with the toilet?"

"Aww come on! We just got here!" Sambell grabs his arm, "And I have no idea how to explain the toilet."

"Yeah, and we're not even supposed to be here!" Lincoln responds, finally breaking free from her grip.

The girl looks at him with more begging eyes, "Please? Will you stay and at least look at the stars with me."

Now, years of getting begged by his little sisters to do things made him immune to any begging eyes that may be used on him… but even he can't help but think, _"She's really desperate."_ And so, he sighs, "Fine, I'll stay for a few minutes."

"Yay!" She shouts, and grabs his arm again, this time pulling him over to a nearby ledge, "Welcome to one of the best views in Aloha beach!"

" _Huh, really?"_ The boy then looks out with that. In the distance, he notices the old Grand hills spiking out from the ground, while the nearby beach shimmers in the soft moonlight.

"So what do ya think?" The girl cheerfully asks.

"It's nice." Lincoln quietly answers, "Is there any other reason you brought me up here?"

"You know, to talk and stuff." She leans over the edge, "I mean, you came here last night and you seem very quiet."

"Well yeah, why would I be loud or something?" Lincoln turns around and leans back against the railing.

Sambell chuckles, "Well, I saw those girls and they were very loud."

"Yeah, those were my sisters. They can be a handful." Lincoln gives a nostalgic smile for a moment, before the thought dawns on him, _"Man, what'll they think when they hear about this?"_

"Must be nice." Sambell responds, "My family's so quiet."

"What do you mean?" He raises an eyebrow, "You're small or something?"

"No, no, not that. It's just… They're very quiet." She responds, "I end up hurt, they're quiet; I do something good, they're quiet. I do something bad…" Her voice trails off.

"Oh." Lincoln looks away, "So you just brought me up here to ask what it's like to have a loud family or something?"

"Not really." She goes, "I just wanted to talk because you're the only other person my age around here."

"Ok, so what do you wanna talk about?" Lincoln looks away.

"How about… why are you here?" She can't help but put on a hopeful smile.

"I had a seizure and my sisters brought me here." He rubs the back of his head, "How about you?"

"I fell down a flight of stairs and banged my head against a wall." She rubs the back of her head as well, "I apparently need head surgery to fix a part of that."

"You're worried huh?" Lincoln turns and leans over the edge just like her.

Sambell nods, "Yeah… and since my family doesn't really talk much… Well… they haven't really been around to help me get through it."

"So you've had no one to talk to about it." Lincoln finishes for her.

The girl nods, "Yeah…"

Lincoln smiles at her, "Don't worry Sam, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine. You just gotta stay strong ok?"

"I guess…" She looks at the boy with hope-filled eyes, "How about you? Will you be leaving this place soon?"

"You can say that." The boy's voice goes low, _"Yeah… and the doctor didn't even bother giving me an exact time."_

Sambell sighs, "Well… I've just been worried that after they put me under… I won't wake up."

"You know… my sister Lisa would probably start going on about how surgery is safe and stuff." Lincoln puts on a nostalgic smile, _"Yeah… she'd probably start doing whatever she could to make me better no matter how improbable the situation might seem."_

"Oh?" She raises her eyebrow, "Why? Is she science-y or something?"

"You could say that." He rubs his head, "She's kind of a genius and things like fear just don't click for her." He holds his arms under him as he looks out into the nighttime town, "She always says that fear is just us trying to stay safe and stuff."

"She sounds brave." Sambell goes.

Lincoln chuckles, "If playing with dangerous chemicals is brave, then yeah, she's brave." He chuckles, "But that's nothing compared to my sister Lynn."

"Oh?" Sambell raises an eyebrow, "How many sisters do you have?"

"Ten." Lincoln rubs his head again. _"Ten loving sisters…"_

Immediately, Sambell jolts up in surprise, "Ten?! Your parents were flippin' busy!"

"Haha!" Lincoln laughs, "Yeah, they really were." While he can't help but think, _"So busy that I don't even know where they are right now…"_ He then turns to the girl, "How about you?"

"Well… I only have two brothers and live with my mom." She flatly responds.

"Heh, it would've been surprising to see you have a big family too."

She shrugs, "Yeah… maybe it would've been."

"If you don't mind me asking… where's your dad?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I'd rather not talk about it much, besides he left my mom before I was born." She looks away with that, "I was basically raised by my brother… and he's well… not the best parent in the world."

"I can figure."

With that, a soft silence descends upon the two children, with neither knowing just how to continue their conversation.

Though, eventually Sambell asks, "What's it like to have a big family?"

Lincoln hesitates his answer, "Simply put… chaos."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Plenty of reasons." Lincoln chuckles, "The lines for the bathroom are killer. We gotta share a lot, and there are lots of fights." He looks at her, "You're lucky you've only gotta deal with two of em."

"Yeah… I am." Her voice trails off.

"What about your other brother? You did mention you had two." Lincoln asks with a hopeful tone.

"I'd rather not talk about him…" She holds her arm. "He…" Soft tears begin to fill her eyes.

"You ok?" He asks.

"Yeah. I am." She smiles as she stands up straight, "Thanks."

"I'm Lincoln." The boy goes.

"Thanks Lincoln." She continues, before throwing her arms around him, "You know… you're the first person to listen to my ramblings in ages."

"Heh, it's fine." He rubs her back.

Then, she lets go and looks into his eyes, "Thank you." And with that, she places a soft kiss upon his cheek.

Immediately, Lincoln blushes in embarrassment, as he watches the girl look out into the night sky once more, "You know… my brother once told me that it is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."

"Well uhh. I guess I agree. After all uhh…" Lincoln stammers.

Sambell laughs, "Haha! You don't have to respond." She smiles and places her hand upon his shoulder, "Now how about we get outta here?"

"You don't have to tell me twice." Lincoln smiles in response.

And with that, the duo steps off the roof.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"What am I gonna tell the girls…" Lori worriedly goes. "We've never had to deal with something like this before, and the younger ones don't even know what any of this stuff is yet!"

"I suggest you break it quickly." The nurse responds, making sure to hold onto Lori's hands as she does so. "After all, from my experience, telling people sooner rather than later is ideal." She looks the young woman in the eyes, "It gives everyone more time to… prepare."

Lori hesitates for a moment, _"Maybe that is a good idea… it couldn't hurt to make sure that the girls know… but…"_ She continues, "What do you think? I wanted to break it to them slowly after we got home since… our parents re currently on business."

The nurse rubs her chin, "That can work too Ms. Loud. But you're gonna have to make sure that you can keep them calm while you break the news. Cause from what I've seen, your siblings area feisty bunch."

" _Yeah they are…_ " She thinks, before responding, "Got it nurse… thanks for the advice."

"No problem. It is my job to help you through this." The nurse responds, before standing up and walking out of the room, with Lincoln walking back inside.

"Hey Lori…"

Lori looks at her brother for a moment, _"Maybe it'd be better if we stayed the whole night… after all, he's gonna get bombarded with questions…"_ She smiles, "Hey Lincoln, the nurses told me all the paperwork's in order for you to go home. We can go when ready."

"Great." Lincoln speaks with a soft, monotone voice as he turns in the bed, "I guess I just need to get everything fixed, huh?"

"Yeah." Lori turns, "I'll go get her… you sure you're ready to go?"

Lincoln nods in response, "Yeah, I'll be fine, let's go."

A few moments pass with that, before the nurse checks Lincoln over once more and gives them whatever medication and leftover information they would need to deal with their current situation, before finally bidding the duo farewell.

"We wish you the best." The nurse goes, as she watches Lori put her hand in Lincoln's, almost as if she were a mother and child. _"Yeah… I hope the best will be enough."_

"Thank you." She goes, before guiding Lincoln away, through the oversized doors of the pediatric unit.

Though, as they leave, the young boy can't help but keep his eyes trained on the young, white-haired girl staring back at him. _"Good luck Sam."_

After that, the two siblings head out of the hospital, before they drive out into the darkness of the night. The van ride is quiet for the most part, given what had happened, no one would fault them.

"So… what are we gonna do, Lori?" Lincoln asks as he glances out the car window, taking in a glimpse of the soft moonlight raining down upon them.

"Well… first we're gonna have to sneak in to the hotel room." Lori keeps her eyes trained upon the dark road ahead.

"And after that?" Lincoln continues with a monotone voice, _"Sambell… she was strange…"_

Lori eases the family van onto the deserted highway, "After that… I'm not sure." She sighs, "But don't worry, I'm sure I'll think of something. We just have to stay calm and make sure that the girls don't find out until everyone's ready for it… right?"

"Hmm… I guess that can work." Lincoln sighs, _"What did she mean by what she said? 'not in the stars, but in ourselves'?"_

"Just gotta keep everything together and we'll be fine." Lori whispers.

And with that, they head towards their home away from home.

* * *

After an hour of driving through the nighttime streets of Aloha beach, the old family van stops in front of the hotel the Loud had been staying at.

"Here we go Lincoln." Lori goes, before she pulls up into her space, "Remember, the medicine they gave you should last for a whole month, after that, we'll have to get a prescription for more."

"Yeah, I know." Lincoln then gets out of the car and together; they head up to their rooms.

Luckily for them, most of the building is quiet, even the Loud Family's section.

"Don't worry." Lori goes, "We'll tell everyone what's going on when you're ready, ok?"

"You already said that." Lincoln immediately responds.

"I-I did?" She nervously mutters, "Sorry."

"It's no problem." She shakes her off, before clutching his chest and taking a deep break, "Lori…"

"Yes Lincoln?

"Promise you'll be there when I do?"

Lori nods, "Of course twerp, I'll always be there for you." She squats down to his height, "That's what siblings are for.

Lincoln sighs in relief, _"At least that's a promise…"_

"Goodnight Lincoln." Lori whispers as she watches Lincoln walk over to his own room. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight Lori." Lincoln responds as he simply gets inside… only to stumble across the mess his sisters had made the night prior, "Well this is just dandy…" For a moment he considers going into one of his sisters' rooms to spend the night with one of them… only to decide against it and trudge through the mess into his bed.

Lori meanwhile, simply creeps through her room and simply crawls into her resting place.

" _This is the worst possible time for any of this to happen. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna tell the girls?"_ Lori tosses in turns in her bed, while Lincoln simply remains still, trying desperately to fall asleep in his own as well.

 _ **The Next Morning…**_

"Ok guys, it's our last day in Aloha beach, I want you guys to enjoy it as much as you can." Lori commands, before looking at Luna, "I'll be busy working with Mom and dad about our plans to go home with, all right? Luna's in charge."

"Ok…" Luna's voice worriedly trails off.

"Any questions?" Lori turns back to face the rest of her sisters.

Leni raises her hand, "Like, is Lincoln going to be all right?"

Lincoln nods, and holds up a small amber bottle. "Yeah, I'll be fine. The doctor just gave me medication to deal with the seizures, I'll be fine."

Lisa stands behind the group, simply trying to put the pieces of Lincoln's condition together, but to no avail.

"Ok guys go have fun!" Lori commands, and with that, the girls and Lincoln rush out of the room.

"Lori…" Lisa approaches her eldest sister, "I have something to tell-"

"Not now Lisa." Lori goes with a commanding tone, "I gotta talk to mom and dad. Tell me some other time."

Lisa sighs in defeat, before walking out of the room as well.

Lori then sighs, _"I hope there's something we can do about Lincoln… but for now, It'll just have to be an ordinary day."_ She looks out the balcony and into the morning sky, _"Just another day."_

19-13-5-12-12 20-8-5 12-9-6-5 6-12-15-23-9-14-7 9-14 20-8-5 1-9-18. 8-15-12-4 6-1-19-20 1-14-4 20-8-9-14-11 17-21-9-3-11-12-25.

 **A/N Man than took forever to write. I sure hope it was worth it though! I thank Sunblast-X for helping me out with this! Also, in order to prevent me from tearing my hairs out from being unable to keep Friday updates, I'll just move this story's updates to Saturdays. (Except in the case of a triple update weekend where this will be done on Friday). See you in 2 weeks!**

 **Guest Replies (C5):**

 **Guest: Thanks for the advice mate. The reason I wanted to have Dr. Thomas be a bit more emotional is cause, well; most doctors I've seen written tend to be very one-dimensional and serious to a fault. Don't worry, I'll try to write better doctor-involved scenes.**

 **HEROS Central: The ending for this story has already been chosen. How it'll end though… I'm not saying.**


	7. Just Another Day

**A/N Man is my summer exhausting already. With summer classes and my inability to focus properly, I can't believe I managed to get this done in the time I did. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Seven: Just Another Day

" _Just stay calm Lincoln."_ The young boy thinks as his sister pulls him through the short, but winding hallways of their hotel, _"Everything's gonna be all right. Mom and dad are gonna come around and take care of everything… And Lori won't tell anyone until we get home. I'm just a little sick, no biggie."_

"And here we are!" Lynn lets go of her brother and motions towards the twin metal doors of the elevator. She glances back at him with a smile, while making sure to secure her duffel bag on her shoulder, "You ready bro?!"

Immediately, Lincoln's eyes go wide, causing him to snap back to his senses. "Huh, what?"

"You're spacing out on me bro. You all right?" Lynn tilts her head in curiosity, "I mean, you're usually more… vocal about me draggin' you around and stuff."

Lincoln just shakes his head, "It's nothing really. I'm fine." He then holds his arm and looks away nervously, "I guess I'm still a bit tired from all the meds they put me on."

Lynn throws her head back in laughter, "Haha! Is that all?" She waves him off, "Don't worry about it bro, "I know the feelin' you get used to it after it happens enough to ya."

"Really Lynn?" Lincoln tilts his head.

The older girl smiles and affectionately rubs her only brother's head, "Yeah bro. Back in Royal Woods, I went to the ER so much that the nurses started asking which sport I got hurt in!" She then throws her head back in laughter. "They loved listening to the stories I'd tell!"

" _Heh, well… at least she knows just how bad hospitals are… though I'm not sure the nurses really wanted to hear her stories."_ Lincoln then turns towards the metal doors next to them, "So, uhh, where are we going anyways?"

Lynn hits the down button, "I was thinking, since it's morning and because you've well…" She rubs the back of her head, "Been in the hospital for the past few days, and because none of us made any plans for today, I thought that it'd be the perfect time to teach ya some of my moves!" The young woman looks at her brother with an excited smile, "What do you think bro?"

" _You know what… that would probably get my mind off yesterday…"_ He sighs, before shrugging, "Ehh sure Lynn, why not." He looks at her with hopeful eyes, "Let's just enjoy today."

"Great!" Lynn rubs her hands together, "From the looks of it, we're gonna be-"

Yet, before she can finish, a certain black-haired girl appears at her side. "Hey guys." She greets with a soft, yet pained-filled smile. "You two busy?"

"G'ahh, Lucy!" Lynn jumps up in surprise, causing her to land right in her brother's arms.

"G'ahh!" Lincoln then proceeds to stumble around for a moment, before hitting the nearby wall, causing his sister to fall out of his arms… and end up hitting the floor. "Ow…" The boy proceeds to rub the back of his head.

"You ok Lincoln?!" Lynn worriedly grabs his shoulders, and helps the boy back to his feet, while Lucy rushes to the opposite side.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lincoln dusts himself off, "Thanks." He looks at his nearby younger sister, "Whatcha' doin' here Lucy?"

"What? Can't a girl who doesn't like the sun wanna hang out with her roommate and only brother?" She then steps closer to the boy, maintaining the smile as she, "After all, we never spend any time together!" She then grabs his arm and pulls it close, as if she was a baby clutching and was clutching her blanket. "So mind if I come with?"

The young boy hesitates for a moment, his heart racing in fear of the possibility, _"What the… why's Lucy acting so strange?"_ He stares at the young girl, despite her long bangs covering her eyes, he can see the small, blue eyes hidden beneath, _"Could she know?"_

"What do you think Lynn?" Lincoln turns to face the older girl.

Lynn shrugs, "I don't mind really, After all…" She cracks her knuckles while putting on a sinister smile, "I could always use more trainees. What about you Linc?"

Both Lucy and Lincoln can't help but shudder at Lynn's idea.

" _No… Lori hasn't told anyone!"_ He looks at Lucy and continues his thoughts, _"She's just acting jumpy cause I just got out of the hospital."_ He begins to rub her head, _"I don't blame her… She's never been the one to take bad news that easily."_

"Please Lincoln?" She begs, holding onto his arm tighter. "I really wanna spend time with you."

" _I could never say no to her."_ And so, the young boy sighs in defeat, "Ok, fine. You can come with us."

Lucy then lets go of his arm and throws her own around the boy, "Thanks Lincoln! You're the best!"

*Ding!* The elevator goes, before the two metal doors part ways. "And our ride's here guys." Lynn steps in, "We're burnin' daylight, come on!"

"Ok, ok Lynn." Lincoln waddles into the elevator, as Lucy proves to be unwilling to let go. "Let's just try to enjoy our last day in Aloha beach. After all… we have school in a few weeks."

"Yeah, then Lori goes off to college, right?" Lynn raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Yeah." Lincoln nods, "From what I've heard, she's pretty nervous about it…"

"We'll talk about her later, let's get to the beach!" Lucy then clutches Lincoln's arm once more.

"Sure…" Lincoln's voice trails off as the metal doors close, _"Now that I think of it… I wonder what she's doing right now…"_

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

" _ **I'm sorry, but the person you are trying to contact is currently unavailable…**_ " The answering machine goes, Lori responds by ending the call and dropping her head, allowing her arms to dangle lazily over the balcony, _"Dangit… twelve calls and still nothing!"_

For a moment, she considers throwing the phone out, over the balcony, allowing it to get lost in the abyss that is the ocean in front of her. Yet, she shakes her head at the idea, _"That's the dumbest thing I could do right now."_ So instead, she options to walk back into the room, toss the phone on Leni's bed and jump on her own.

She lays flat along the bed, staring at the ceiling as she does so, _"Dangit… where are those guys?! They've been gone two days and they haven't been picking up the phone!"_ She mentally sighs, _"Maybe this is why they told me to drive everyone home… they knew they wouldn't be able to answer, so they made sure that we'd at least get home safe…"_

She grabs at her head in frustration, "Ugh, dangit! Where are those guys?! Of all the times to not pick up the phone, why now?!"

"Uhh… you ok Lori?" Luna greets as she peeks her head in through the open door. "I could here you next door. Is something up?

"It's nothing Luna." Lori flatly responds, "Just trying to get a hold of mom and dad and stuff…" She sighs, "I just wanna find out what our home situation is gonna be like until they get home, ya know."

"Ahh… ok then." Luna rubs the back of her head, "You'll probs just be left in charge till they come home. That's how it usually is."

"True…" Lori looks away, "Still, it'd be nice to make sure. I mean, what if they want us to spend some time at…" She shivers, "Aunt Ruth's"

Luna can't help but to shiver as well, before shaking her head "Well, I'm sure everything you do is gonna be all right, I mean, mom and dad trust you alone with us all the time! Heck, from the sound of it, they trusted you to bring us all home! That's gotta count for something, right?"

"True." Lori looks out the balcony window and gazes upon the beautiful days passing by outside, _"It's just… Lincoln's sick and I don't know how to help him."_

"So uhh… mind if I come in? I wanna ask ya something." The younger girl continues.

Lori turns to her sister, "Huh? Oh sure Luna." She turns and hops to her feet, before walking over and undoing the chain lock keeping Luna out, "So what's up?"

Luna strums her damaged acoustic guitar, "Well… since it's our last day here and we've really got nothing planned, I was wonderin' if you could drive us to the big mall they've got here." She rubs the back of her head, "Cause… I kinda need to get my guitar fixed and some of the girls really wanna go shopping."

" _Well… I guess there's no harm to it…"_ She shrugs, "All right then, sure."

"Really?!" Luna's eyes go wide in shock. "You'll really drive us?!

"Yeah. It is our last day here after all." She shrugs again, "Just tell everyone to be ready in about an hour or two and I'll drive us all there all right?"

"Great." Luna goes, before turning and walking away from the room. "Thanks Lori!"

"No problem Luna." Lori then closes the door and sighs, _"Maybe a trip to the mall will get my mind off… Lincoln. After all, there's plenty there to distract myself with…"_ She then turns around and slams her back against the door. _"Still… there has to be something else around here…"_ She scans her room for a moment, and notices a certain manila envelope to catch her eye, as well as allowing another idea to enter her mind, _"Well… I guess it couldn't hurt…"_

And with that, she sits down at the desk and begins to shuffle through the stack of papers she had been given.

 _ **Back with Lincoln…**_

"Ok Lincoln, watch closely now." Lynn, now dressed in a simple red swimsuit, holds her body tight, before stretching her arms out at her sides. Then, she braces herself and charges at the ocean, "First, you gotta get a good run." Her voice echoes over the crashing of the waves, "Then, when you can feel the water under your feet…" She claps her hands together and jumps at the water, "You dive!"

The young woman crashes into the water, causing a massive slash to rise up from her spot.

A few moments after that, she pops her head up and spits out some sea water, "And that's how you make a big splash Linc!" She uses her hands to magnify her voice, "Now you do it!"

" _Welp this is just gonna end up badly."_ Lincoln, now dressed in a set of simple orange swim trunks, takes a deep breath, "Ok Lynn." Then, he braces himself, _"I just gotta…"_ He pulls… only to realize that a certain girl is still cradling his arm. "Uhh Lucy, do you mind?"

Lucy shakes her head, "Nope."

"Well… would you mind letting go then?" He begins to shake her in frustration, _"Dangit Lucy, why of all times to cling to me like the plague, why now?!"_

The young girl shakes her head.

"Is something wrong, Lucy?" He stares at her sister, his frustration beginning to build.

"Sorry Lincoln… I just…" Her voice trails off as she looks away shamefully, "It's nothing. I'm sorry."

" _There's more to this than she's letting on."_ Lincoln mentally sighs, "Do you wanna swim with me too. I don't mind."

Lucy shakes her head, "No… Water and Goth don't mix that well." She turns towards a nearby beach umbrella, "The ocean gives too much life and takes too much at the same time. I can write plenty of poetry about it in the shade. Just… please be careful Lincoln. Please."

Lincoln puts on a soft, reassuring smile, before he carefully rubs his sister's head, "Don't worry Lucy, I'll be fine. And no matter what, I'll be here for you."

"Thanks Lincoln." Lucy then steps away, "If you guys need me, I'll be under my cover of darkness." Before she takes a seat on the towel the trio had set up just for this very reason.

" _Well… it could be worse."_ Lincoln then braces himself just as Lynn had done mere moments prior, "Welp, here goes nothing!" And with that, he runs at the water and jumps in, submarining himself in the cool, salty liquid, but bursting out and splashing his sister.

"Haha, good one bro!" Lynn quips as she blocks the incoming volley of water, "But you really needed to hold yourself together. You seemed to tense up just a bit, before you hit the water. It's probably the meds still trying to work its way out of your system."

"I guess so Lynn." Lincoln treads water for a moment, _"Or it's the thing affecting my brain starting to move on to the rest of my body."_ He continues with a hint of shame in his voice, "So uhh… do you wanna try the trick again or what?"

"Well…" The older girl rubs her chin for a moment, "How about we just swim around instead? I mean if you can't do a big slash right because the meds haven't worn off yet, I doubt you'll be able to do anything else I could throw at ya."

The boy thinks for a moment, _"She's probably right. And you know what? That doesn't sound like that bad of an idea."_ And with that, he answers, "Sure Lynn. I think that'd be a great idea."

"Awesome Linc!" She puts on an excited smile, before rushing through the water, "How about we start with a race! First person to reach the lifeguard tower wins!"

"Hey! That's cheating!" Lincoln responds, before following his sister, _"At least I'll be able to see these girls be happy while I still can. Who knows how they'll react when Lori finally tells them the truth."_

Nearby, Lucy sits under them umbrella, with her legs tucked into her chests. _"Why did the spirits tell me that everything would be fine? Lincoln's sick and Lori and Lincoln are doing their best to hide it…"_ she bows her head in shame, _"If only I hadn't hidden in that vent…"_

 _ **Back with Lori…**_

Lisa takes a deep breath as she stands before her eldest sister's room, _"I am almost certain that I have discovered why Lori's test results have come out as they have…"_ She glances at the small notebook and box filled with tests in her hands, _"But I need her to take a test… and maybe finally tell me what is ailing our brother."_ And with that, the young girl moves in to knock…

Only for the door to give way, "What the?" Immediately, she pushes her way into the room, coming face-to-face with Lori, who was just sitting at the table with a stack of papers in her hands.

"Alex was a powerful psychic, with the ability to control objects at will…" Lori reads aloud, not noticing the young girl that had entered her room, "He would spend his days reading a magical spellbook with his sister Alice who, while still very young, was studying to become a powerful sorceress…"

"Hello eldest sibling." Lisa greets, causing Lori to jump up in shock.

"Huh?!" She lands on her feet and turns towards her young visitor, "Oh, hey Lisa. What are you doing here?"

The young girl adjusts her glasses, and stands up straight, "I just came to inform you of some of my most recent finding, as well as to inquire about our male sibling's current condition."

"Well can it wait Lisa? I'm kinda busy here." Lori begins to shuffle through the papers she had been going through

"I see." The younger girl doesn't break her bearing, "Very well, I just ask that you take this test-" She then holds up a small box with a pink caption, '99% accurate home test!'

"Some other time Lisa. I'm really busy reading right now to deal with one of your stupid tests." The older girl sighs, "After I finish here, I have to try to get a hold of mom and dad again."

"Interesting. Reading what, if I may inquire?" Lisa looks on in curiosity.

"Some strange story a depressed cab drive gave me." Lori flatly answers, "So far it's very 'meh' of a story. You wouldn't like it."

"Oh…" Lisa adjusts her stance, and holds her notes and the box behind her back, "Very well then. I will return later. Is there a specific time you would like me to return to administer the test?"

"Later, after our trip to the mall." Lori answers, not even bothering to work with Lisa anymore.

Lisa nods, "Very well sister. If you need my assistance, I will be waiting in my room until that time arrives.

"Great." Lori then sits back down and continues reading, "One day, the kids were having a picnic, when the hypnosis girl spotted them and immediately. Fell in love with Alex. Using the powers of her wavering eyes, she put him under her spell transforming him into a dangerous mind bender." Lori turns the page, "Yet, Alice would not give up on her brother. She was forced to leave him to go on an epic quest to find a cure. Knighting that their bonds would not waver against this challenge…"

She closes the stack and shoves the papers back in the envelope they came in, _"Well that explains why that guy never bothered finishing it… it sucks arse."_ She then stands up and begins to pace the room. _"Well… that didn't help at all."_

"Hey Lori, you busy right now?" Lana knocks on the door, while Lola follows close behind.

"Huh?" She looks at the twins, "Oh yeah, I'm not, why?"

"We just wanted to know what we could get Lincoln!" Lola awkwardly rubs the back of her heard, while looking away in embarrassment, "I mean, he just got back and stuff and I think it would be a good idea to show that we care about him and stuff."

" _Yeah, cause she doesn't like what Lincoln wrote about her in his journal."_ Lana can't help but snicker, "Yeah, plus, you guys seemed really tired this morning too."

Lori raises an eyebrow in surprise, "Well, I doubt I'd be able to tell ya what he'd like…" The young woman rubs her chin, "Maybe you guys could look around the mall. You'll probably stumble across something there."

"Dangit…" Lola mentally kicks herself, "Fine then… When are we going anyway?"

The older girl checks the nearby clock, "We're leaving in ten." She looks back at the twins, "Why don't you go get the others and meet me by the van? And almost everyone wants to go too."

"Got it Lori!" Lana goes, "Do you know where everyone is?"

"If I remember correctly, Lynn mentioned taking Lincoln to the beach." She begins counting on her fingers, "Everyone else should still be in their rooms waiting.

"All right then!" Lana salutes her eldest sister, before dashing out of the room, "I'll get everyone!"

That leaves Lola alone with Lori, as well as a nervous silence in the room.

"So… what gave you the idea to do that, Lola?" Lori looks at her younger sister with a joking smile, "I mean, it's hard to see you wanting to give someone else a gift, ya know."

"I dunno…. I just wanted to and stuff." The pageant girl shrugs.

Lori looks at her with skeptical gaze, "Really?"

Lola's face turns bright red with that, "Yeah! I'm Lola Loud! Of course I can get my brother a present!" While a thought pops up in the back of her mind, _"Especially when he writes that I'm impossible to deal with and very annoying. I'll show him!"_

"Heh, you sure there's no other reason why you're doing this?" Lori crosses her arms, allowing her smile to fall to a frown, _"Please don't tell me you know the truth. Please don't tell me…"_

"I wanna get him something because I want to!" Lola turns around and scoffs at her sister, "Do I have to say anything else to get you off woman?"

"Whatever." Lori shakes her head, "How about we get downstairs then? The others should be getting ready to go, and I'd hate to keep em waiting."

"Really?" Lola raises an eyebrow in confusion, "That doesn't sound like ya."

"Whatever." And with that, they head downstairs.

 _ **A few minutes later…**_

With the entire family gathered up, Lori shoves the keys in the ignition and starts up the family van, "So, are you guys enjoying your last day here guys?"

"From the looks of it sister, yes." Luna answers, whole holding up her damaged guitar, "I have my guitar ready as well."

"Like, I can't wait to go to the mall!" Leni quips, "I like, have so many beach dress ideas I couldn't make because…"

Lily slapping Leni with her rattle stops the older girl from talking, "Poo-poo!"

"Ow, Lily!" Leni whines, "What was that for?"

"Poo-poo!" Lily shakes her rattle at the girl, while sporting an annoyed look.

Leni shakes her head, "All right fine."

"Well I on the other hand have found several interesting things about our family." Lisa cuts in, adjusting her glasses as she does so, "Elder sister, I would like to inform you about the thing I wished to tell you earlier-"

"Later Lisa." Lori cuts her off, "It's our last day here and I doubt it's that important, ya know.

" _It has to do with you and your relationship to your boyfriend."_ Lisa immmedaitely thinks, before sighing in defeat, "Very well, I'll hold my peace for the time being.

"Good." And with that, Lori drives the van out of the hotel parking lot and onto the highway, "How about you guys?"

Luan is the next to answer the question, "I get you sand and beach this!" He then throws her head back in laughter.

"That was a horrible pun Luan." Luna shakes her head in disappointment. "I don't even know if that was even a pun it was so bad."

Lana laughs, "That burn was funny!"

"Dangit." Luan shakes her head, "Oh well!"

"Well, Lincoln and I went swimming!" Lynn then cuts in while she throws her arm around the boy.

Lincoln smiles, before Lynn ruffles his hair, allowing some of the leftover water to sprinkle upon their siblings, "Yeah, it was pretty fun." Though, he can't help but nudge Lucy ever so slightly, "Uhh Lucy… why are you so clingy today?"

Lucy immediately looks up hopefully, "What? I can't be clingy to our only brother?"

The boy shrugs, "I mean, you can, this just isn't like you is all." He then tries to push her off, but the girl just doesn't budge.

"If you want me to let go… I'll consider it." Lucy's voice trails off, while she simply tightens her grip on the boy.

"Poo-poo!" Lily cuts in, while flailing her arms.

" _Good… the girls are in good spirits. That'll make dealing with Lincoln's… issue easier."_ And with that, she drives into the mall parking lot.

 _ **A few more minutes later…**_

"Ok girls, get whatever you need for the trip home." Lori commands, "We'll meet back here when you guys are done, all right."

"And how'll we know when everyone's done, if I may inquire?" Lisa crosses her arms.

"We all have phones Lisa." Lori pulls her own out, "Plus, I've already gotten what I wanted the last time we came here so I'll just be sticking around here if you guys need me."

"Ok then." Luna then steps forward from the crowd, "Well, if you guys need me, I'll be getting my guitar finally fixed."

Lisa follows her, "I might as well join you."

"Why's that?" Luna raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I need to study acoustics." Lisa flatly responds.

Luna shrugs, "Ok then."

"All right guys, everyone else, go make groups of two and head off." Lori commands, before taking a seat in a nearby bench, "And be safe!"

Random mumblings of agreement emanate from the crowd with that, before the Louds break up, leaving Lori alone on the bench.

* * *

"So where is this music shop that you are so determined to go to?" Lisa asks while holding onto Luna's hand.

Luna shrugs, "Don't know. I looked the place up though so…" She glances around the mall square, causing her gaze to fall upon a small hobby shop called, "Norm's Guitars". "And there it is, come on!" The young woman then pulls Lisa along, and takes her into the store.

Within a moment's notice, the duo is standing before a young man, with Luna's guitar raised towards him, "So can ya fix it mate?"

The man, who the duo assumes to be Norm, glances at the guitar and takes it in his hands, "Hmm, yeah I can fix it. It'll take a bit though. Do you mind waiting?"

"Not at all." Luna shakes her head, before turning to Lisa, "Don't you have to do something here too?"

Lisa nods, "Yes." She walks over to nearby guitar, "May I test out these instruments? I have a study that I wish to conduct."

Norm shrugs, "Sure, go knock yourself out kid."

And with that, Lisa gets to work. First she holds up a random guitar- one with a blue body with pick guard- and strums, creating a rather dull sound.

"Uhh Lisa… you need to plug it in." Luna walks over and grabs one of the cords.

"Oh, I see." Lisa quickly adjusts her posture, "Thank you elder sibling." Lisa then strums, allowing the speaker to send a low wave of sound through the store.

" _This can work…"_ Lisa thinks before placing it down and grabbing another one.

"What are you even trying to do Lisa?" Luna tilts her head in curiosity.

"I'm just trying to understand how some sound waves work for a little experiment I have planned when we return home."

"Ok then." Luna shrugs, "Just try not to break all the windows in the house again." She chuckles, "That's my job."

"Very well sister, very well." And with that, Lisa gets back to testing.

* * *

"Like this dress looks great Lola!" Leni holds up another copy of Lola's pageant gown.

"Leni!" I'm not looking for another dress! I'm looking for something for Lincoln!"

"Oh…" Leni puts the dress back, "Why's that?"

Lola hesitates her answer for a moment, "It's cause I haven't been a good sister to him and I really wanna make it up to him."

Leni rubs her chin for a moment, "Oh…"

"Yeah…" Lola rubs the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Well then, why didn't you say so!" Leni flares her arms in excitement, "I know just what to do!" She grabs the six-year-old.

"Huh?!" Lola goes as Leni pulls her through the store and out of the mall's clothing store.

"Where are we going Leni?!" Lola shouts. Leni responds by running even faster. At that point Lola is only able to hold on desperately as her elder sister jumps up a flight of stairs and banks down a random corridor, before finally stopping in front of a small storefront.

"We're here!" Leni lets go of her little sister and motions towards the store, "If you wanna get Lincoln something he'll love, just buy him a video game!"

"I feel sick." It takes all of Lola's willpower to not throw up, as Leni leads her into the store, "Ok Leni… so what should I get him?" Lola starts to walk around the store, glancing around at the random games lining the walls.

"How about Laser Macguffin 3?" Leni holds up a small box with a crystal heart behind two laser guns as its cover.

"Nah… I think." Lola rubs her head and grabs a random game, "How about Shooting Quasars?" She holds the box up to Leni, and her elder sister simply shakes her head, "Nah, I've played that game before, it's really dumb."

Lola immediately snaps towards her sister, "You play videogames?!"

"Like yeah!" Leni waves her off, "They're totes fun!"

"Huh… so you really can help me with this." Lola grabs another game and shows it to her sister, "What about this one, Leni?"

Leni smiles at her choice, "I think he'll love it!"

"Great." Lola smiles, "Thanks Leni." While she thinks, _"I hope this'll work."_ And with that, they buy the game and return to the mall.

* * *

"Uhh Lucy… Mind telling me why you're being so clingy?" Lincoln asks as he drags his sister along.

Lucy puts on a smile, "No reason Lincoln, no reason at all." She gently holds onto his arm, "I just wanna stay close to you is all."

Lincoln sighs in responds, "All right then… what do you wanna do?"

"Whatever you wanna do." She then begins to walk alongside the boy, though making sure not to let go of his arm.

Lincoln rubs his chin, "How about the arcade? I'm sure we can find something we could both enjoy in there."

Lucy nods in agreement, "Sure brother, let's go!"

And with that, the duo walks into the nearby game room.

The store is relatively small, with only a few games sprawled along the sides, and filling up the main room.

"So… see anything you wanna play?"

Lucy nods, "I'll play whatever you want to, brother."

"You sure?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow, "I mean… there are some things here that even you would hate to play."

"As long as I'm with you, I don't mind it at all." Lucy then follows Lincoln onto one of the consoles.

And a few minutes later, Lincoln comes out on top. _"Lucy is acting really weirdly…"_

* * *

Lori taps away at her phone again, this time still attempting to call her parents… and still nothing happens. She still doesn't get the response she so desires. With a soft sigh, she shoves the phone in her pocket and walks into a nearby store.

"Hello and welcome to Unallowed Terra!" One of the workers greets, snapping the young woman back to her sense, "Huh?"

"You've walked into a comic book store."

"Oh, ok." She rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "I wasn't paying attention…" She thinks for a moment, _"Maybe I could get Lincoln something for the trip home…"_

And with that, she asks, "Did any new Ace Savvy comics come in yet?"

The worker nods, "Yeah, issue 107 came in today. Ace Savvy and the Journey for the White Joker."

"What's it about?" Lori calmly asks.

"Ace Savvy needs to find the cure for one of his friends, so he goes on a journey to enjoy one last adventure with them before they're gone… and hopefully save them before it's too late." The work then rubs the back of his head, "I'd say more, but I think my description was a bit… crappy."

"Huh, ok then." Lori shrugs, "Do you have a copy in stock?"

The man nods and turns to face a stack of comics behind him.

And a few minutes later, Lori is outside the store with the book in her hands, _"Ace Savvy wanted to make the most the little time he had left…"_ Lori can feel an idea beginning to form, _"It isn't the best… maybe for Lincoln…"_ She clutches her hand close to her chest. _"It'll be worth it."_

And with that, she sits down by the exit and gets to reading.

* * *

"So why are you hanging out with me, Lana?" Lynn nonchalantly asks as the duo walks through the mall's sports goods store.

Lana shrugs, "Well, Lola's busy trying to get something for Lincoln, so I'm kinda stuck."

Immediately, Lynn snaps toward her sister, "What did Lola do this time?!"

Lana waves her off, "Nothing. She just realized that she hasn't really been that good of a sister to anyone, so she's gonna try to make it up for you guys… eventually."

"Ahh, ok then." Lynn turns down another random aisle, "Well at least she's trying to be easy to deal with."

"Yeah…" Lana looks away, _"I just wonder how long she can manage to keep this stuff up…"_

Lynn then grabs a ball off the nearby rack, "Anyways, I got what I came for."

Lana responds by grabbing a Nyrf blaster off the wall, "And I got what I came for!"

The two sisters playfully laugh with that.

 _ **Later…**_

"So how did you guys enjoy our last day in Aloha Beach?" Lori nonchalantly asks as the family walks back to the van they despised so much.

"It was Alola!" Luan puns, causing the infant in her arms to facepalm. "Haha." Luan chuckles, "I just sat around the food court telling jokes, what about you guys?"

The siblings then talk about what they did for a few moments, before Lori finally speaks.

"Well… mom and dad picked up…" She goes, causing the girls' eyes to go wide in surprise, "They gave us permission to have a little fun before we go home."

"What does that mean sis?" Luna tilts her head, while strumming along on her newly repaired guitar.

"It means… if you guys want… we can have a short road trip before we come home." Lori awkwardly rubs the back of her head, "It's just an idea though. And if you girls really want to..." She glances back at Lincoln, _"But I wanna do it for his sake..."_

Random questions and confusion emanate from the girls with that, followed by Lori going. "So pack up tonight and think about if you wanna enjoy the end of summer on the road or at home. And we'll talk about it at the meeting, ok?"

Lisa raises an eyebrow in suspicion, "Is something going on sister?"

"Not at all." Lori does her best to hide the nervousness building in her spirit, "Nothing at all."

And without another word, they get in the car and drive off.

20-1-11-5 23-8-1-20 25-15-21 6-9-14-4 1-14-4 20-18-5-1-20 9-20 23-9-20-8 3-1-18-5. 6-15-18 20-8-9-19 9-19 20-8-5 19-25-13-2-15-12 15-6 25-15-21-18 12-9-6-5.

 **A/N Well that was shorter than expected, but then again, I needed to transition into the planned plot of this story somehow! Next chapter will finally bring what I wanted to do when I started this. Bout time don't ya guys think? Also, if there are any mistakes, please feel free to point them out!**

 **And this is a first… I don't have anyone to thank for helping me… wow.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **Guest replies (C6):**

 **HEROS Central: What I have planned is bittersweet. That's all I'll for now.**


	8. Road Trip!

**A/N Man this chapter is way later than I thought it would be. Then again, life and trashing the first 3 drafts of this happened in that time. I hope this was worth the wait!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Eight: Road Trip!

"So I was thinkin' 'how about I get some more banana peels so I can set up an entire prank maze'!" Luan holds the items she had bought in front of her for a moment, "But then I realized that, people falling gets boring after the first time." She then sticks her hand in the bag an pulls out a small, retractable hand with a boxing glove at the end, "So I decided to get this punching and grabbing arm!"

"That is literally something I'd expect out of a Saturday Morning cartoon." For a moment, Lori can't help but smile, her sister's nonchalant plans would seem terrifying to most, though she had gotten used to it, "Never change Luan, never change."

"Don't worry Lori, I won't **exchange** my jokes for anything!" The young comedian throws her head back in laughter, "Haha, get it?!"

The young woman nods, "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Though she can't help but think, _"If I told you the truth, would you be saying the same thing?"_ She then glances at the young boy sitting in the passenger-side seat, "What do you think Lincoln?"

Instead of answering, Lincoln continues to lean against the window- simply watching as the world passes by around them

"You ok lil' bro?" Luna plucks her newly repaired guitar's string, before turning one of the knobs at the other end, "You've been awfully quiet ya know."

Immediately Lincoln flinches, "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"I dunno…" Lynn grabs the passenger-side seat and pulls, allowing her to come face-to-face with her brother, "You usually would've said somethin' about Luan's puns or helped Luna tune her guitar."

Lincoln just shrugs in response, "It's nothing, I'm fine." He leans back, trying to make as much space between him and his sister as possible, "I'm just tired is all, ya know, with everything that happened."

Lynn stares at the boy for a moment, her soft, caring gaze, changing to one of suspicious, "Hmm… ok." She lets go and falls back into the seat, "By the way Linc, you never said what you did at the mall!"

"Huh, didn't I?" Lincoln tilts his head in confusion.

Leni shakes her head, "Nope! Like, I went to get clothes with Lola! And Luan went to get more pranks. But like, I don't know what you did!"

"Oh that's easy. Lucy speaks up, her expression still holding her uncharacteristic smile, "We just walked around for a bit, before stopping at a game to store to play some stuff." She sits up straight, trying desperately to keep the attention on her.

Though, Lincoln speaking up breaks that, "Yeah, we went around for a bit. I wanted to go to a comic book store, but I just couldn't find it." He shrugs, _"Then again… I didn't really look for it either…"_

"Wasn't there a comic store by the entrance, ya know, where Lori was?" Lana rubs the back of her head.

"I doubt it, Lincoln and I went around so many times!" The young Goth's voice nearly barely breaks above her siblings', not that she cares all that much.

"Heh all right then, you sure you can't say you did anything else?" Luna asks, before plunking another string- this one already in tune.

"Nope!" Lucy goes, before fading back into the nearby shadows.

For a moment, Lynn turns to her roommate, unsure of just what to say next, though after a moment, she easily musters the words, "Yo Lucy, you all right?"

"Never better!" Lucy immediately looks straight forward, doing her best not to look at her older sister.

Lynn leans in close to the eight-year-old, bringing her voice down to a whisper, "I'm just askin' because you see a bit… happier than usual."

"It's nothing!" Lucy rather loudly declares- almost as if she is begging for help.

"Anyways guys," Lori glances out the side window, "We're here."

Quickly, she parks the family van and turns back to the girls, "Remember everyone, there's gonna be a meeting discussing our end-of-summer plans in an hour, all right?"

"Got it Lori." Lana raises her thumb, with the rest of the girls simply nodding along in agreement. And with that, the Louds step out of the van.

 _"Just gotta get back to my room. Everything's gonna be all right. Everything's just gonna be fine…"_ Lincoln think as he turns and gets out, and makes a beeline for the hotel. Though, lori places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to halt in place for a moment, "Lori?"

"I wanna talk about mom and dad for a sec. You mind?" Her voice fills with her typical motherly heat. At times like these, well, Lori's motherly calm helps keep Lincoln at bay.

"All right…" his voice trails off for a moment, before Lori grabs hold on his hand, and simply pulls him along.

 ** _A Few Moments Later…_**

The duo then sits in the eldest sister's bedroom, with Lori on her bed, Lincoln in the provided chair, and the "Do Not disturb" sign hanging on the front. No doubt Leni would be distracted long enough to give the duo some privacy.

"So… what did they say?" Lincoln starts, his voice filling with both fear and curiosity."

 _"Do I tell him?"_ Lori takes a deep breath in hesitation, _"He's desperate to know though…"_ She looks the young boy in the eyes, taking in the painful expression he's giving her, "I brought you here to tell you… they didn't pick up."

Lincoln leans back in shock, before holding his head in frustration, "So… the road trip?"

"Lincoln… look." Lori sighs, "Where I got the idea for this doesn't matter."

"Well, kinda, it does." The young boy nonchalantly answers, "I mean, why now? Don't ya think with the… ya know. 'incident' that we should just go home as soon as we can?"

"I know, and I thought about that…." The young woman rubs the back of her head, "Well, I thought about it, and since the doctor didn't tell us how long he thought you'd have… Maybe we could have something fun to do before we go home…"

The young boy stares at her in a disbelief for a moment, "Ya sure you're thinkin' straight Lori?"

"Pretty sure." Lori shrugs, "I mean, no one knows what's goin' on, and no one's panicking so…"

"Well did you at least try to call someone else?" Lincoln continues, his voice filling with a hint of despair, "Ya know… like aunt Ruth, Pop-pop?"

Lori facepalms, "Ugh, why didn't I think of that?!" She quickly shoves her hand in her pocket and pulls out the small device, quickly dialing as she does so.

"The boy blinks twice, before flaring his arms and nearly shouting, "Wait, this whole time, you haven't even tried to call someone other than mom and dad?!"

"Well sorry Lincoln!" Lori speaks in an annoyed tone, "But keeping ten Loud Girls calm while you were in the hospital kinda took priority." She throws her arms out as well.

 _Ya know what… she's right."_ Lincoln holds onto his annoyed expression for a moment, before relenting and taking a deep breath, "Fine. Just make a call please."

"Already done." She hits the green button, causing her cell phone to start ringing, _"Please pick up… we don't need you disappearing on us too!"_

 ** _"Hi there!"_** The man on the other end greets, **_"What's goin' on?"_**

"Hey Pop-pop, it's Lori." The young woman does her best to hide the fear in her voice.

"What? Lori!" The old man's voice fills with cheer, "You never call me. What's goin' on my dear?!"

 _"I gotta tell him…"_ She immediately thinks, _"Someone other than us… someone who can actually help out has to know…"_ For a moment, the young woman hesitates, considering whether or not to tell the old man what had happened. She glances at Lincoln, catching sight of the young boy's desperate look. "Nothing much pop-pop. We're just plannin' on heading home soon and we were just wondering if you knew where mom and dad were. They're not pickin' up their phones."

"Huh, really?" The old man's voice fills with surprise, "That's not like them at all…" He shrugs though and continues with a nonchalant tone, "Well they told me that they were gonna cut their vacation short so they could attend an IT dentistry conference. Maybe they don't have any cell service." The man's voice fills with an apologetic defeat.

"Dangit…" Lori whispers, _"Well there goes knowing what's gonna happen on that end."_

"I'll tell ya, if I hear anything from them, I'll be sure to give ya a call." The man finishes. "All right Lori?"

"All right, thanks Pop-pop!" Lori ends the call with that, before dropping her body on the bed, "Well that could've been better.

"So what's goin' on?" The boy asks, though he no doubt already knows the answer.

"He doesn't know either."

"Oh…." Lincoln turns away.

 _"Lincoln is priority right now."_ Lori reminds herself, _"No matter what happens, make sure he's all right."_ She then sits up in her bed, before hopping to her feet and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Hey, chin up bro, everything's gonna be all right."

"Lori…"

"Yes Lincoln?" The young woman tilts her head in curiosity.

"Do you think… mom and dad really care about me?" He looks away, almost as if trying to hide the small tears starting to form under his eyes.

"Of course they do!" Lori immediately grabs the boy's arms and turns him to face face, "Why would you even ask that?!"

"Then why aren't they answering?" His voice fills with desperation, "They always know that when you call it's serious! You never call them for anything else!"

 _"Just stay call Lori, just stay calm. Everything's fine."_ She hesitates her answer, "I'm sure they're just having bad cell service. You know how bad the connection is by those meeting halls and convention centers."

Lincoln remains silent.

"Hey, don't worry. Everything's gonna be all right." She lets go of him, "After all, we've dealt with worse!"

The young boy looks away.

"Hey now, come on. We've got a sibling meeting to start, ok?" Lori's voice fills with a motherly heat.

"All right…"

And with that, Lori stands up and shouts, "Sibling meeting!"

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

 _"Just keep smiling, just keep smiling."_ Lucy repeats, as she carries up a small bucket of ice up the stairs and over to her room, _"The spirits told me everything would be fine. Lincoln's sick but I'm sure he'll get better!"_ She then calmly unlocks her room door, and steps inside… only to find her roommate standing before her, holding a fierce gaze and crossed arms.

"Yo Lucy, what's goin' on with ya?" The young woman starts, her eyes fixed on Lucy's.

"What're you talkin' about?" The Goth calmly steps passed her, and drops the bucket on the table.

Lynn motions towards the girl, "Well for one, I think that's the most I've ever seen you smile this much… ever." She steps over and forcibly turns the eight-year-old around.

"What? Can't a girl decide to smile once in a while?" Yet, Lucy doesn't break, _"I can't let her know. Lincoln and Lori don't want that yet…"_ And so, she shakes her head, "You said it yourself.!"

"Yeah, I know what I've said." Lynn stares at her with judgmental eyes, _"Something's goin' on…"_ before grabbing her and pulling her in close, "But I didn't mean act super clingy to Lincoln and smile so hard that your face might stick that way."

"It's nothing, really! I just wanna change my attitude towards… life… ya know!" Lucy then turns and rushes over to her open suitcase, starting to pack up while Lynn watches.

 _"Something's goin' on around here."_ She tenses up, "Lucy, what's going on with you?!"

The Goth shakes her head, though she doesn't turn to face Lynn, "Absolutely nothing! Everything's fine!"

 ** _Sibling meeting!"_** Lori calls out.

"Well, looks like it's time to go!" Lucy breaks free of her sister's grip, "We don't wanna be late now, would we?

Lynn stares at Lucy for a moment, her eyes piercing the Goth's overly happy demeanor, "All right then."

"Great!" Lucy goes, before walking over and disappearing into the shadows.

 ** _A Few Minutes Later…_**

The ten loud sisters, and Lincoln sit in the room of their oldest members, with the provided table acting as the podium for the meeting.

"Everyone!" Quiet!" Lori bangs her shoe against the table, creating a rather quiet echo that, nonetheless, silences the rest of her siblings, "I now call this sibling meeting to order." She glances at the young scientist, "Lisa, besides the obvious, is there anything else on the docket?"

Lisa quickly runs through her pre-made list, "From what I have been told, there is only one thing to talk about. However…" She turns to her sister, "I would like to talk to you about some of my most recent findings, as I am certain you will find them most serious."

"All right Lisa, tell me some other time." She stands up and leans against the table.

"Very well." Lisa goes in defeat.

"Ok everyone, we're here because mom and dad gave us permission to have some fun before we go home." Lori speaks with the soft care of a commander, "I called this meeting to ask, do you guys wanna go?"

The young Louds talk amongst themselves for a moment, their random arguments and questions filing the room with more white noise.

"Girls!" She continues, "I'm not done yet!"

Her family settles down once more.

"Just for reference, I would like to go." She sighs, "Girls, look, it's the end of the summer and by the time we get home, we'll only have a few days left before we have to go to school."

"But like, we could go to Royal Woods Mall!" Leni speaks up, her voice filled with a naive hope.

"If we go on a trip, then we could go to other, even bigger malls, Leni." Lori answers, causing the younger sister to rub her chin in thought, "There isn't really much to do this time of year back home, besides get ready, and I'm sure we can handle that pretty easily." She then looks upon each of her siblings, "So my question is, do you guys wanna go?"

"I'll go with whatever Lincoln wants." Lucy grabs onto the young boy's arm.

Lori shrugs, "Ok then… well what do ya think Licnoln?"

Lincoln sighs and shrugs, "I'll just go with what everyone else thinks."

"All right." Lori continues, only for Lynn to speak up, "Ehh, why not, I think it'll be fun."

"I dunno sis, we got stuff to do back home remember?" Luna strums along, "I mean, you know that we've got more than just school work to do."

"I agree siblings." Lisa adjusts her glasses, "Anymore vacation and your collective IQ will decrease by one hundred points."

"Plus, I already got the tan I wanted and anymore sun and I'll start to burn!" Lola adds on, though she can't help but think, _"Though… if Lincoln wants to go…"_

"Poo-poo!" Lily flares her arms in agreement. "Poo-poo!" She then follows that line up with more baby gibberish…. Which amounts to, "I don't mind goin' but I'm starting to miss my crib."

"Well we've got a **trip** to have!" Luan throws her head back in laughter, before wiping a tear from her eye, "Hah anyways, a good car ride is sure to get my creative juices flowing! Hey maybe I'll get some more material too!"

Leni then shrugs, "Like, I'm in for a trip!"

"All right then." Lori turns to Lincoln, "The score is five-four for the trip, you're the tie breaker again Linc."

Lincoln looks upon his eager sister, half of them weary from their vacation, while the other remains excited for another to come. He can't help but try to shake the young girl holding onto his arm for a moment- though she doesn't let go.

"Well…" he starts, sighing, "I guess we could try to have some fun before we go home, _"After all… the moment everyone finds out… well… I don't wanna think about how they'll react."_

"Then it's settled." Lori bangs her shoe again, "We're gonna go on a road trip before we go home. Pack up and meet down by Vanzilla first thing tomorrow, all right? Also, give me places you wanna go tonight, ok?"

The siblings give nods in agreement- though some are more reluctant than others- before Lori slams her shoe once more, "Sibling meeting over. Goodnight everyone."

"Lori, I-" Lisa tries to start.

"Please save it Lisa, we gotta pack up." Lori cuts her off.

"Very well…" Lisa's voice trails off, before she turns and follows the rest of her sisters out the room.

Lincoln is the last to step out, and glances at Lori, _"I hope you know what you're doin' sis…"_

 ** _Later…_**

With his clothes packed for their upcoming trip, Lincoln tiredly hops in his bed, _"Why am I going along with this?"_ He lies down, staring at the wall for a moment, before turning and laying flat bringing his gaze upon the ceiling instead, _"I can't keep hiding this forever, and this trip is gonna make everyone suspicious!"_

*Knock* *Knock*

 _"But why is Lori doing this?"_ He continues to think, _"This is the worst idea she could've possibly had…. And I'm not saying anything about it!"_

*Knock* *Knock* "Lincoln? You still awake?" A young voice goes.

 _"*Sigh…* Just remember Lincoln, everything's gonna be all right…"_ He mentally relaxes and should his arms under his head, allowing them to act as a pseudo-pillow.

"Lincoln!" The two voices cry out again, prompting the boy's eyes to go wide in shock.

"Yeah?" He responds, "What is it?"

"It's Lola and Lana!" The older twin replies, "Mind openin' the door for us?"

 _"Just stay calm Lincoln… just stay calm. They don't know right? Right, Lori hasn't told anyone yet."_ He takes a deep breath and rolls off his bed, "All right you two, I'm comin'." Slowly, he makes his way over, and opens up, revealing the two young twins of the family- dressed in their night gear, with Lucy standing behind them.

"Uhh, what's up guys?" He raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

Lucy puts on the brightest smile she can muster, "Nothing much Lincoln, I just wanted to know if I could sleep with you tonight."

"Lynn problems again?" He nonchalantly asks.

 _"You could say that…"_ Lucy immediately thinks, though her answer is a bit more direct, "Yep!"

"Well uhh… ok." The young boy awkwardly goes, "I'll uhh, let you use my spare bed?" he steps aside, allowing Lucy to enter with, "Thanks Lincoln!"

"So how about you two?" He turns to the twins, and squats down to their height.

"We can't sleep." Lola goes.

"Yeah! I'm super excited for the road trip!" Lana adds, her voice filling with excitement as well.

For a moment, Lincoln simply looks at the tins for a moment, before simply sighing, "Fine then guys, if it'll help you too, I'll let you sleep with me."

The twins beam with joy for a moment, before hugging their brother. "Thanks Lincoln!" They say in unison.

"No problem girls, no problem." He returns their embrace, doing his best to hold be whatever tears desire to come out at that point.

"Uhh Lincoln, you're all right?" Lana looks up at her brother and tilts her head.

"It's nothing." He says, while thinking, _"I wonder how they'd act if they knew…"_ "I just wanna make sure you're all right."

"We're fine Lincoln." Lola answers, _"I have to make it up to him… and spending the night is sure to give me what I need to know!"_

And with that, Lincoln checks the hallway for anyone else wishing to join his slumber, though finds no one. Then, he simply brings the twins inside and shuts the door behind him.

 ** _The Next Day…_**

Packing up for the louds is usually a long a difficult process, given stuffing the luggage for ten girls is as easy as teaching a two-year-old calculus. Though, with another exciting trip on their horizon, well, most of the girls do their best to make sure everything would fit. And after eating their breakfast, the Loud Siblings file into their family wagon, with Lori taking the helm.

To think, a few days prior, she would've been driving her family home instead of hitting to the long roads carved over half-a-century ago, "You guys all buckled up?" She asks, a motherly concern filling her voice.

Her siblings give affirming nods with that.

"All right, here we go." before Lori throws the car in drive and puts the family wagon in motion, _"Where to first…"_ Lori thinks, _"The girls each told me a place they'd like to go before summer's end… but where to first?"_

An idea comes to her, and she pulls up onto the long, winding road that is Interstate 87.

For the long trip, the world seems to slow down. The lack of weekend traffic easily allows Lori to pop the clutch and speed down the road. Cool, soothing air rushes through the car's open windows, and within the first hour, most of the Loud siblings are asleep…. Well, save for Lucy who seems to be always teetering on the edge.

Lori glances at her sleeping brother, careful not to break sight of the road for too long. A pained frown forms, _"I almost remember those old days…"_ When you're doin' something most would see as desperate, it's difficult not to imagine the countless possibilities."

Hours pass on that road, the whirring of the tires acting as the main source of sound.

"Hey Lori… where are we goin'?" Lincoln stirs from his slumber.

His elder sister thinks for a moment, "It's a surprise Lincoln, it's a place you're gonna love." Her voice fills with a maternal pain.

The young boy raises an eyebrow in response, "Huh… what are you talkin' about?"

"I'm trying to find somewhere is all…" Lori calmly answers, "Gotta make a good first impression after all."

"Oh…" Lincoln turns and glances out the window.

Around them is the soft forest that nature has provided. "Heh, well, we did just come from quite the trip." The boy focuses on his own reflection in the window.

For a moment, the world goes silent- save for the whirling of the engine and the grinding of the tires upont he smooth road, _"I'm sick… those seizures were the first sign…"_

"Hey Lincoln…" Lori goes, bringing the young boy back to reality.

"Huh? Yeah Lori?" He turns to face her.

"Ya know, if you ever wanna talk about anything, I'm all ears." The older girl smiles at her brother.

"Thanks Lori." Lincoln leans back, _"I'll probably need it."_

"Just remember, everything is gonna be fine, I promise." The elder sister goes, before taking a look at one of the signs, "Huh, burgers and gas at C42." She turns towards her only brother, "Wanna go?"

The boy chuckles, "Sure." And with that, Lori turns the wheel and gets on the off amp.

 ** _A Few Minutes Later…_**

"Hmm…" Lincoln goes, "Mystery Jerky or Frito Lays…" He rubs his chin in contemplation. _"Dangit. Why did Lori trust me to pick?!"_ He then shrugs, "Ya know what, I might as well just get both." he grabs the packages, _"After all, wiht ten sisters, we're gonna have to share this all anyways."_

A few feet away, his eldest sister shoves the nozzle in the receiver and begins pumping the van. _"All right Lori, you've got enough fuel to reach the next rest stop. Mom and dad won't know about this stuff till we get home. And i'm not sure if I should keep it that way or not..."_

"Greetings sister unit." Lisa rubs her eyes tiredly, walking up to her sister as she does so.

"Hey Lisa, looks like you're awake." Lori chuckles, "I expected you take almost as long as Lily to finish napping."

She nods, "Of course, it's not like I, unlike our siblings, sleep for more than two hours at a time. After all, science waits for no one!"

"Heh, ok brainiac." Lori quips, her gaze focusing on the numbers passing by.

Lisa looks around for a moment, "I believe now is a good time to tell you something."

"Yeah?" She turns to face her sister.

"I have reason to believe you're a primigravida." In order to seal the deal, she pulls out a small set of papers. "But worry not-"

"Aprima-what?"

"It means-" Lisa starts, only for Lincoln to walk over, carrying a small pile of random junk food in his arms, "K guys, I got the snacks!"

Lori smiles, "Awesome." Not even a moment after he arrives, the pump clicks, with the already paid total displaying on screen, "And refueling is done, get inside!"

Lincoln complies.

Then, she turns to Lisa, "Tell me later, ok?"

"Very well." She responds, _"Telling her what I suspect is become more frustrating every single day."_ and with that, thy reenter the family wagon, before kicking it back in gear and driving off.

*Yawn* "Lori, where are we?" Luna tiredly asks.

The driver responds by checking one of the signs, "We're still in Michigan."

Another sign passes them by, "And now we're in Iowa."

"Huh, cool…" Luna chuckles, before strumming along on her guitar once more., "So uhh… what are we gonna do in Iowa?"

The elder girl thinks for a moment, "Not sure really. There's something to do here, I'm sure of it."

"Do you at least know where we're goin'?" Lynn speaks up, only for Lucy to butt in, "Now Lynn, let's not fight! After all, you only have eleven thousand seconds to use a day and getting angry isn't gonna help much." The ten siblings look at their sister in confusion for a moment., before simply ignoring her statement.

 _"I'm not sure if this Lucy is better than the old one…"_ Lori slowly begins to phase out. With the sun glowing brightly over their world, she drives on.

 _"Now that I think of it… Where should we go? I need to ask Lisa to make a map…"_

"Earth to Lori!" Lincoln goes, snapping his elder sister back to reality, "You ok sis?"

"Huh?" Lori stammers, "Yeah, I'm fine. We're all fine and stuff."

"That's good." Lincoln goes, before leaning up against the passenger-side door and looking out, just as countless ones before him have done.

Lori sighs. "How about we put on the radio? After all, Luna can't be the only one to break the silence!"

None of the girls speak up in protest, then again, most remain asleep, still tired from their vacation. _"I guess tunes it is then."_

 ** _Come on down to the state fair! Just a few miles away in Blain County! Come on down before the we close up for the summer!_**

"Hey Lori…" Lincoln starts, speaking with an exhausted tone.

"Yeah Lincoln?"

"Can we go?" He looks at her begging eyes.

 _"I don't see why not."_ Lori shrugs, before glancing back at the others, "What do you guys think?"

Given the fact that most are still asleep, almost none of them answer. _"Heh, right._ " She mentally chuckles, "Lynn, Luna, Lucy, Lisa?"

"Why not, I hear there's good music at some of those." Luna answers, while Lynn shrugs, "Sure, There must be plenty of sports to work with."

"I'm for whatever you guys choose." Lucy adds on.

Lisa shrugs, "While I do not agree with this trip, I see no reason to continue to fight what the consensus has dictated. I will happily go along with anything you choose."

"Well then, I guess it's settled." Lori chuckles, _"First thing's first. Let's go."_

And with that, she gets on an off ramp and heads off to the fair.

15-14-3-5 25-15-21 8-1-22-5 6-15-21-14-4 9-20, 12-5-1-22-5 20-8-5 7-1-18-4-5-14 10-21-19-20 1-19 9-20 23-1-19, 1-14-4 7-18-5-5-20 20-8-5-13 15-14-3-5 13-15-18-5.

 **A/N Man, I hope this was worth the wait. This was much harder to write for so many reasons. And yeah, i know this is shorter than most, but while I wanted to end this with them at the fair, well, I realized that wouldn't be the best way to end this.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Guest Replies (C7):**

 **HEROS Central: That'll be answered in due time.**

 **Guest: Thanks! I hope this was worth the wait!**


	9. Fun At The Fair

**A/N Here's the next chapter! Man this was so hard to keep up with. School and my horrible schedule didn't help at all. I hope you enjoy!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Nine: Fun At The Fair

" _This is just gonna be another normal day."_ Lori repeats, desperate to keep herself calm in front of her siblings. Luckily however, most continue to sleep behind her, _"Because they're out of town for the time being, mom and dad are letting you go on a road trip… so that by the time we get home, they'll be home too."_

The young woman struggles to keep her eyes on the road ahead, Her nervousness and fear silently prodding her to look away and to watch her brother, Though, she knows better and fights the urge, _"We just gotta keep everyone in the dark and we'll tell everyone when we get home. That way, we'll have had something done before everyone starts worrying…"_ She glances back, allowing her gaze to fall upon the young boy sitting behind her. For a moment, Lincoln simply twiddles his thumbs, while doing his best to stare out the window. _"Just hang tight Lincoln. I promised you that everything would be all right and I don't break promises._

"Are we there yet?" Lana tiredly cuts through the silence, while she rubs her eyes,

"Not yet." Lori quickly answers, "We're gonna get there soon."

"Where are we going anyway?" Lana continues, tilting her head in both curiosity and exhaustion.

Lucy quickly cuts in to answer, "We're gonna go to a county fair!"

The six-year-old tilts her head in confusion.

"It is a small place, filled with games and rides of all kinds!" Luna answers, nostalgia filling her voice, "I remember when Royal Woods used to host those…"

"What happened?" Lana raises an eyebrow.

Lincoln nudges her, "Simple, when Lisa started doing science, she accidently froze everyone. The next year, everyone was so afraid of her, that when they found out she was coming, they cancelled the whole thing."

"That's… pretty sad actually." Lana pouts, "Though… I guess one in… wherever we are sounds fun…"

"Heh good." Lori smiles, before taking a soft breath, _"Remember, they only know we're going on this trip. Let's keep it that way."_

And after a few moments of driving, the old pavement begins to disappear, slowly being replaced by an old, dusty back road leading to an oversized dirt lot with hastily built attractions resting behind an old wooden fence, _"I guess that's the county fair."_

With one final deep breath, _"Everything's gonna be all right, just have some fun and we'll go find a place to sleep for the night."_ She then drives the car into the dirt parking lot and pulls the keys from the ignition. "All right guys, we're here!" She forces a chipper tone.

*Ugh* The sleeping sisters groan in unison, while the awake siblings calmly step out of the van. It takes a few moments for the remaining sisters to follow, though eventually, the entire Loud Family stands outside the Blaine County Fair, with Lori standing in front of the group.

"Well guys, here we are!" Lori motions towards the sight with a pained smile upon her face. "What do you guys think?

Silence overtakes them for a moment, before Lincoln breaks the silence, his voice filling with slight disappointment. "So uhh… this is the county fair?"

Lori nods and rubs her little brother's hair, "Yeah, but don't worry, I'm sure there's plenty to do!" She turns towards it and simply takes it in. From what she can see, the fair isn't much. With only a few portable rides hidden behind a vast array of tents. No doubt there used to be more, but everyone was preparing for the end of the season.

The eldest Loud then turns to the rest of her siblings, "So what do you guys think?" She holds her hands close together, hoping to exaggerate her excitement, "Come on, are you with me?!"

"This place is so gross!" Lola wastes no time complaining, "Why is there so much mud everywhere?!" She then attempts to shake some off… only to realize that there is so much attached to the bottom of her gown that it would require a good wash to get out. "Ugh, Lori!" She throws her arms at her sides and yells, "Why are we even here?!"

"Speak for yourself Lola!" Yet, her twin quickly counters, "We're here to have some fun!" She then runs over to a still-wet puddle and hops inside, "The mud's perfect!" She then rubs her face in it, making sure to cover her overalls with a cool layer of the liquid earth, "Mmm, fresh!"

*Yawn* Leni rubs her eyes, "Lori, when did Royal Woods become such a dump?" She then rubs her head. "I remember the ground being much harder than this!"

Lori can't help but pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Leni, we're not going to Royal Woods yet, remember?"

"What?" Leni tilts her head in confusion, "I thought we were gonna go home before we went to go trip on the road!"

The eldest sister pinches her nose harder, "No Leni, that's not what a road trip is."

"Yeah!" Luan cuts in, her voice filling with joy, "We don't wanna **fall flat** after all!" And of course, she throws her head back, laughing as she does so, "Haha! Get it?!"

And immediately, most of her siblings groan in annoyance.

Yet, rather then join them, Lori holds her arms out, "Come on guys, let's look on the bright side!" She motions towards the fair, "We're at a county fair on the way home from our summer vacation. This might be the last time we'll be able to do anything like this for an entire year! Can we at least try to enjoy this?" She follows it up by putting on a hopeful smile. "Besides, it's not like we're allowed to go to the one in Royal Woods… if they ever start holding that again."

A moment passes, before Lola crosses her arms and answers, "When I heard we were gonna go on a trip, I thought we'd go to the beach or something! Not some crummy fair!" She stomps her feet in annoyance. "I can't deal with all this iky mud!"

"Come on Lola." Luna speaks up, strumming her guitar as she does so, "It wouldn't hurt to give this place a shot love. Besides, no knockin' something till try it, remember?"

" _Thanks Luna."_ Lori thinks in relief, , "So uhh, meet back here in a few hours?"

Lynn shrugs, "Ehh sure." She turns to the rest of her sisters, "Lana, wanna come with me? I'm sure we'll be able to find something fun to do!"

Lana nods, "Sure Lynn!" before running over and grabbing onto her sporty sister. "Let's see if there are any cool games to play there!"

"Games?!" Leni goes in excitement, "I wanna play!" She quickly grabs Lola with that.

"Hey!" Lola tries to break free of her older sister's grip, but to no avail, "Let go of me!"

Yet, undeterred, Leni raises Lola up, "Let's go play!" Before she rushes over to the fair entrance.

Lori facepalms, "Dangit Leni."

"Anyways, I think it'd be a good idea if we made sure she stays out of trouble." Lynn points at her excited older sister, "Come on Lana."

Lana nods, "Race ya!"

Suddenly, a look of fierce determination overtakes Lynn, "Oh, you're on!" And with that, the duo rushes for the carnival entrance as well.

Luna promptly shrugs, "Well, I guess that works." She strums her guitar, "If you don't mind Lori, I'll be headed off on my own."

The eldest Loud thinks for a moment, before nodding, "All right, just try not to get yourself in trouble, all right? I don't need a repeat of the Mick Swagger incident."

Yet, Luna can't help but chuckle, "Don't worry Lori, I'm not 'Radioactive' or a 'Monster'." She then strums her guitar, before humming a soft tune and walking into the fair as well.

" _All right, so far, so good."_ Lori mentally sighs, before glancing back, allowing her to notice her male sibling's rather distressed expression. Without a question, she turns around and takes a knee in front of him. "Hey Linc…" She whispers with a soft, motherly voice, "Everything's gonna be fine."

"But what if…" Lincoln starts, fear filling his voice. "You know… it happens again.

Yet, Lori wastes no time waving him off, "Nothing's gonna go wrong. Just remember to stay calm. " She playfully pokes his nose, "Plus, you've been through worse, haven't ya?"

" _I'm not sure…"_ Lincoln hesitates for a moment, before nodding, "I guess… I mean living with you guys is pretty hard…" He gives a soft, calm frown along with it. "All right Lori…"

The moment Lori lets go of her brother, Lucy appears at his side and grabs his arm, cozying up to him as she does so. "So Lincoln, wanna spend the day with me?"

" _I'd rather spend it with them all… but if I did…"_ With fights the thought of how suspicious his sisters would get then. And so, with a sigh, he nods, "Yeah Lucy, let's go…" and with that, the duo walks into the park, with Lucy making sure to hold onto her brother's arm.

"This'll be a county **fair** day!" Luan puns, before grabbing Lily, "Wanna go with my Lilster?"

The baby rubs her chin for a moment, before nodding, "Poo-poo!" And with that, she laughs.

"Haha! Ok! Just make sure not to soil yourself!" And with that, both she and the baby laugh, before going onto join the rest of their family in the fair, leaving Lori and Lisa alone by the van.

"Heh, well then I guess it's just you and me now." Lori chuckles, before taking Lisa's hand in her own.

"Good." Lisa adjusts her posture, while making sure to adjust her glasses… as well as pull out a small stack of papers- no doubt the work she had done over the past few days, "This is the perfect time to inform you that-"

"Lisa…" Lori cuts her off, desperation filling her voice.

"Hmm?" Lisa raises an eyebrow, curious as to her sister's interruption.

Lori runs her hand through Lisa's short, brown hair, before squatting down to her height, "Please Lisa, we're on vacation. I really don't wanna worry about anything at the moment. Please, can it wait?"

For a moment, the young scientist hesitates her answer, _"This is important… and may tie into what happened with Lincoln…"_ She looks up, into her elder sister's eyes. Her own frustration had built up over the past few days. So instead, she tightens her hands into fists, before staring at her and grimacing, "Lori! I've been trying to tell you this for the past three days!"

"… _I've been putting this off for a while, now haven't I…"_ Lori takes a deep breath, "Fine then… how about you tell me after the fair?" The young woman's voice fills with a painful hope. "If what you've been trying to tell me is that important, we're gonna have to focus on it, right?"

"Yes, of course-" Lisa tries to start, yet Lori doesn't let her finish.

"Then please, hold onto it until after the fair." She grabs Lisa hands and holds them close, "Afterwards, I promise I'll listen to you."

"Fine." Lisa goes in frustration, breaking free of her elder sister's grip as she does so.

Lori sighs, before grabbing her hand again and tugging ever so slightly, signaling her to follow, "All right then… come on, let's enjoy the fair. It isn't healthy to stay inside experimenting all day, ya know…"

Now, normally, Lisa would argue against such thinking, after all, it was a scientist's duty to continue to advance the collective knowledge of the human race, though her frustration stops her.

And so, reluctantly, Lisa nods and follows at her side. Though, she can't help but think, " _For now Lori, I'll hold my piece, but if you decide to do anything that could harm the developing embryo inside of you, I may be forced to tell the news sooner rather than later._ "

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"So where do ya wanna go Lincoln?" Lucy affectionately asks, cozying up at his side as she does so.

"I dunno Lucy." The boy looks around for a moment, _"Though, no matter what I pick, it's gotta get my mind off… what's going on right now…"_ He takes in the scene. Most of the booths surrounding the duo are closed. No doubt when their occupants decided to close up for the season, meaning that the remaining ones would no doubt go out their way to make their money back on their prizes.

Lincoln takes a deep breath, "Go an idea for what you want?" He leads through the dirt paths as they make their way through the fair, over into the center ring.

"I mean, so long as I'm doing it with you, I don't care what we end up doing!" Lucy cheerfully responds.

Now, Lincoln was used to his sister's mood swings. He was never keen on them of course, but he could deal with them relatively well. And yet, when he glances down at Lucy, simply holding onto his arm as if she were his child and he were his father, he cannot help but feel… off. As if she desperately wishes to simply talk to him, and yet can't bring herself to ask.

" _Lucy…"_ Lincoln thinks, before shaking his head, "Well then, uhh, how about we look for an open booth or something? I mean, someone's gotta have something cool around here!" His thoughts continue, _"I'm gonna find out what's wrong… and I'm gonna do my best to help you through it all… no matter what."_

"Ok Lincoln!" Lucy excitedly coils her arms around his arm even more. "Anything you want!"

" _But I guess the only way to help her, is to get her to talk… that'll help, right?"_ Lincoln takes a deep breath, while silence overtakes the duo.

"Say, Lucy…" Lincoln starts, looking down at his sister with a hopeful gaze as he does so, "You having talked about the spirits and poems for a while now, what's goin' on?"

"Oh nothing!" Lucy quips, looking up at him as she does so, "I just haven't thought about one since, ya know, summer's ending! I wanna make the most of what little time we have left! And staying inside all day and writing isn't gonna make the most of it!"

For a moment, the young boy can't help, but star at her with a look of disbelief, _"Definitely something's going on with her… but what could it be? No… she couldn't know."_ With a reluctant deep breath, he forces that thought to the back of his mind, before he steps forward, "All right then, lets at least find something…"

"Knock down the bottles and get a prize here!" An old, gruff voice calls out.

" _Huh, well that's convenient."_ Lincoln thinks, before he turns towards the source: an old man, dressed in typical carney clothes as well as holding a cane, standing behind the table to what seemed to be a hastily-made ring in the bottle game.

He nudges Lucy, "Wanna do it?"

With a wide, uncharacteristic smile, Lucy nods, "Yeah! Let's go!"

" _I don't like Lucy like this…"_ The boy then turns, and with Lucy holding onto his arm firmly, approaches the booth.

"Hey there!" The man goes in excitement, "Just knock these ol' bottles down with this here ball ad you'll win a prize!" He motions towards the green platypus doll nearby. "Come quick, these are the last ones I have in stock!"

"Want one Luce?" Lincoln asks.

"Only if you wanna win it for me Lincy!" Lucy excitedly responds, joy filling her expression.

" _Yeah… I have to figure out what's going on with her, she likes dolls when no one knows she does!"_ Lincoln the breaks free of Lucy's grip, pays the man and grabs one of the balls. With Lucy eagerly watching him, he reels back his arm, "A one, and a two, and a…" And with that, he throws.

 _ **A Few Moments Later...**_

The duo now sits in the shoddily made food court, with Lucy cuddling the doll close. "Thanks so much Lincoln!"

"It was no problem." Lincoln nonchalantly answers, before he takes a bite out of the chicken tenders he had ordered, "So Lucy… what's going on with you?"

Thee young Goth looks at Lincoln with a pained smile, "What are you talking about?" She clutches the doll closer, as if trying to squeeze some of her stress out on the toy.

 _"Stay calm Lincoln, just keep your cool and Lucy is gonna tell you the truth, she always has."_ And so, with a calm, serious demeanor, he continued, "Lucy, you've been acting strangely lately."

"What do you mean Linc?" The Goth girl quickly replies, "Can't a girl who likes the dark wanna have some fun with her bright older brother?!" She makes sure to look down, towards the doll as she does so, " _After all, everything's gonna be fine."_

"Of course." The boy fights to keep his strong, yet calm demeanor, "I'm just asking cause you've been acting strangely since I came back from the hospital…" Lincoln narrows his eyes at her.

" _Because I know the truth Lincoln!"_ Lucy fights the urge to shout that out, _"But I don't want you to worry. What's going on isn't your fault!"_ And so she answers him, "Don't worry about it. I just decided that I was spending too much time cooped up in my room and not enough time with my loving family!"

" _She's hiding something. The only time she acts this sentimental is when something big is going on and she doesn't wanna outright say what it is… she has to then… it's the only explanation…"_

"Hey dudes." Luna walks up to the duo, "Looks like you two had some fun."

"Yeah!" Lucy cheerfully goes, "We went and played a game and Linc won this for me!" She holds up the strange doll, "I mean, how many girls can get their brother to win them one of these?!"

"A lot probably." Luna chuckles, before strumming her guitar, "Anyways, I found a cool place to get some grab around here, You two wanna come with?"

Lincoln shrugs, "Sure Luna." Prompting Lucy to grab him in response.

"By the way Linc, you've got a nasty sunburn comin' up." Luna whispers.

Immediately, one of Dr. Thomas' warnings rushes back to the forefront of his mind, _Stay out of direct sunlight… this isn't a burn, it's a rash…"_ The boy's heart starts to race in fear. _"I can't let her figure that out…"_

"Ehh, lets see if we can find an aloe shop around here." Luna shrugs prompting Lincoln's heart to fall at ease. "Come on now, we don't want that to get worse do we?"

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

"Ugh Leni!" Lola thrashes in her elder sister's arm, "Let go of me!"

"Not until we ride that loop de loop!" Leni runs over only to stop in front of the entrance to the ride. The ride is small, with just a few carts which would be carefully pulled over a few short hills. No doubt this is a ride designed for young children.

The man operating the machine looks at the duo in boredom, almost as if he is preparing to shout, "Seriously, I hate my job."

"Is this ride open?" Leni cheerfully asks.

The man sighs, before opening the metal fence up, motioning for the duo to enter, to which Leni happily complies.

"Leni!" Lola shouts as her elder sister shoves her in the cart seat next to her and pulls the restraint over her, locking her in place.

Yet, her elder sister rubs her head, "Don't worry Lola! This is gonna be fun!"

"Yeah, as if being forced to ride on a weird coaster is fun." She crosses her arms as well as she can, though to no avail, the chair simply blocks her arms' movement.

"Off you go." The man uncaringly whispers, before pushing the ride's start button, causing the cart to move through the small track and into the meager loops that had been set up. A few joy-filled moments follow, though given the relatively slow speed of the ride, not much screaming occurs… from Leni anyway.

"G'ahh!" Lola shouts, "Get me off this thing!" She shakes the restraint, though luckily for her, they don't give way.

"Haha!" Leni laughs in amusement, "Come on sis! This is fun!"

The diva responds by continuing to scream. "Dangit Leni! When we get back to Royal Woods, I'm gonna… I'm gonna do something! I don't know what, but I'm gonna pay you back for doing this to me!"

The fashionista, meanwhile, laughs, "Don't worry Lola! This is fun!"

"G'ahh!"

And within a few moments, the ride ends.

"I hope you enjoy the Blaine County Fair Rollercoaster, please come again." The bored man releases the restraints, allowing Lola and Leni to climb out and off the small ride.

"So what'd you think?" Leni nonchalantly asks.

Lola remains silent for a moment, before turning to Leni with fire in her eyes, "I told you I didn't wanna ride a rollercoaster! Now my hair's all messed up!"

Leni waves her off, "I like, totes, know how to fix it! I'll show you it later!" She looks around for a moment, allowing her gaze to fall upon two more of her sisters. Quickly, she grabs Lola's arm and runs over, "Lynn, Lana!"

"Huh?" The duo goes, turning to their older sister in confusion.

"Oh hey Leni." Lynn greets, "Lana and I were just about to ride the Whirly Dirly again." Lynn points at a small, spherical ride with the carts spinning around as well as rushing around a track.

"I wanted to talk to you all about something." The elder girl looks around for a moment, silently hoping that no one is around to listen in, and luckily for her, no one is.

Lana raises an eyebrow and tilts her head in curiosity, "What's up Leni?"

"Is it just me, or have Lincoln and Lori been acting weirdly after he came back from the hospital?"

Lynn shrugs, "I doubt it, I mean, after one of my teammates broke her leg, everyone was acting extra careful around her."

"Yeah, and when I fell from a tree, mom and dad wouldn't let me out of their sight for a month!" Lana adds, flaring her arms as she does so.

"No… it's not that…" Leni rubs her chin, "I know what you're trying to say, but uhh… I'm not sure what to think…"

"How come?" The athlete asks.

The fashionista shrugs, "It's just, I noticed Lori was talking to herself more and seemed to be talking a lot in her sleep, it was really starting to confuse me…"

"I'm sure it's nothing." Lynn waves her off.

"Yeah!" Lola flares her arms, "Plus, I doubt anything Lori could've been dreaming could convince her to drag us out here for no reason!" her voice fills with frustration.

"Poo-poo!" Lily shouts, before both she and Luan join the group, "Hey, what's up guys?"

"Nothing…" Leni's voice trails off, "I'm just worried about Lori… she seemed really worried about something…"

Luan waves her off as well, "Nah, she just needs a good visit from…" She pulls out her puppet, who is now wearing a small doctor's uniform, "Dr. Coconuts!"

And Lily immediately starts to laugh.

"Ok…" She answers, unsure of how to respond.

"Well if that's all, Lana and I are gonna ride the Whirly Dirly again." Lynn grabs her little sister's arm, "Onwards to glory!"

Lana flares her free arm as well, "Charge!"

Leaving the rest of the group to shrug and visit the nearby attractions as well.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"So what rides do you wanna hop on Lisa?" Lori calmly asks as she drags the four-year-old along, the latter now actively fighting to break free of her elder sister's grip. "And stop fighting me! We're here and nothing is gonna change that!"

"Lori! I am urging you to not go on any of the rides!" The four-year-old shouts, her frustrated voice nearly echoing through the fairground.

"Lisa, you don't have to go on about how dangerous these rides are, we're gonna be fine!"

"I have no doubt about that fact Lori." Lisa painfully pulls, yet when t comes to a four-year-old versus a seventeen-year-old in a game of tug-o-war, the result is obvious.

"Then why are you fighting me?" Lori stares at her little sister, "If you don't wanna go on any rides, just say so!"

"Lori, I don't mind going on any rides!" She counters, "The issue is going on any ride with you in your current condition!"

The elder girl releases her little sister, causing her to fall to the mud below.

"What are you talking about?" Lori raises an eyebrow in confusion.

Lisa quickly adjusts her posture, "Lori, I believe it is time I inform you, I have cause to believe you are currently pregnant."

For a moment, Lori remains silent, unsure of just how to respond to the news.

"Uhh, Lori, are you all right?" Lisa tilts her head in worry.

In response, she steps passed her sister, "G-go find the others. I'll be fine." While she can't help but think, _"Lincoln's sick... and I'm pregnant..."_

And with that, she walks out of the park, and drops in the driver's side seat of Vanzilla, "What am I gonna do?" She groans, before burying her head in her arms. _"There's only one thing I can do, isn't there?"_ With tear-filled eyes, she shoves her hand in her pocket and pulls out her phone.

 _ **Later...**_

"So how did you guys enjoy your day at the park?" Lori nervously asks as she watches her siblings step into their van.

"It was fun." Lincoln answers, hope filling his voice. "So where are we going next?"

Lori taps the wheel as they pull back onto the highway, "We're gonna meet up with Ronnie Anne and Bobby at Dairyflags… They finished their vacation and got back today."

Lincoln's eyes go wide in shock, "Ron… Ronnie Anne?!"

The young woman nods, prompting the rest of the girls to lean over and squeal in unison.

"Lincy's girlfriend's coming to visit!" Leni holds her arms up in excitement, "I can't wait to show her what I got from Aloha Beach!"

"Neither can I!" Lynn spins a new plastic ball on her finger, "She still owes me that game!"

"As much as I enjoy Lincoln's love life." Lisa cuts in, adjusting her glasses as she does so.

"And what's that?" Lucy asks with a pained joy in her voice.

Lisa answers, "Where are we going to suspend consciousness for the evening?"

The rest of the girls remain silent, unsure of how to answer their genius sister.

"So uhh, where are we gonna sleep tonight?" Luna worriedly asks, "I mean, we don't have a hotel room and stuff anymore…"

"No worries." Lori starts up the family wagon and puts it in gear, "We'll find a place, don't you worry, everything's gonna be all right."

And with that, they drive off, with the setting sun illuminating their path ahead.

20-1-19-20-5 20-8-5 20-5-14-4-5-18-14-5-19-19 9-14 20-8-5 2-18-5-5-26-5

 **A/N And there's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed! Man this was so hard to write, but hey, I managed! Albeit, it did end up a bit short. Also, in order to keep up with classes, I'm moving this story's updates to Sunday. This will also, hopefully, help me starve off writer burn out/help me focus.**

 **Guest Responses:**

 **Guest: This chapter answers that.**

 **HEROS CENTRAL: It's a cryptogram. A=1, Z=26**


	10. Roadside Mess-Ups

**A/N Hey guys, welcome to chapter 10! I hope you enjoy the 3** **rd** **part to this triple update weekend!**

 **R &R!  
**

Chapter Ten: Roadside Mess-Ups

"Lincoln..." A soft, feminine voice whispers, beckoning the young boy to awaken from his slumber.

*Groan* The boy goes, choosing instead to pull the soft sheets over his body instead. "Five more minutes."

"Lincoln…" It repeats, this time shaking the young boy as it does so. "I need you to get up."

Yet, undeterred from his desire to rest, his nudges the hand away, "Please leave me alone, I wanna sleep."

"I said…" In frustration, the girl grabs the boy's pillow and pulls it right out from under his head, forcing his eyes to jolt open, "Wake up!"

"G'ahh!" The young boy screams as he scampers out of his bed, only to land face-down on the soft carpet below. Yet, still fearful of his safety, he rushes to his feet and takes deep breaths in order to calm himself down, "What the heck?!"

Instead of responding, the voice remains silent, allowing the young boy to take in his surroundings for a moment. Instead of the cheap motel room he has fallen asleep the night prior, he now finds himself standing back in his own room. Crisp morning sunlight flows through the rounded window, illuminating the room, just as it has done countless times prior.

Quickly, he darts his head from side to side, his eyes going wide in confusion, "What the… what's going on?!" Yet, after a moment of looking, he realizes that absolutely nothing is out of place. His comics are exactly where he left them, his room is still painted a dim green and he's just wearing his typical night clothes, _"Was that all… a dream?"_

And with that, he takes a breath, "What a dream." Before he sits down and rubs his head.

"He-he silly." The voice continues, "That wasn't a dream."

"Wait, what?!" Suddenly, he looks to his side and jumps to his feet once more, allowing his gaze to fall upon a familiar sight- a young, white-haired girl dressed in a simple pink shirt and matching blue skirt, "Sambell?! What are you doing here?!"

"He he." She chuckles, before hopping to her feet and turning toward the young boy, growing ever so slightly as she does so. "I'm here because you've got so much explaining to do little mister!"

" _This isn't making any sense! Something is going on!"_ The boy immediately thinks, backing up as he does so, though given the small size of his room, that isn't very farm, "What reasons?" His voice begins to quiver as if he is trying to feign calm bravery.

The girl puts on a sadistic smile for a moment and leans in close, whispering in the boy's ear, "First, I needed to wake you up. Now I can get you to tell the truth."

Lincoln gulps, "Wake me up for what?" He then quickly looks around, "And what happened to the trip?! We were like, two states over!"

"The trip's over kiddo." The girl then grabs his arm, her voice filling with a poison seemingly uncharacteristic of when he had first met the girl, "And now it's my job to make you tell the truth.

" _This, this isn't the girl I met in the hospital! She… she's."_ Lincoln tries to fight back, only for the girl to pull him closer. "Wh-what do you mean?!" His mind starts to race and yet, he realizes that there is nowhere for him to run.

"Oh, I think you know." The girl's eyes begin to glow red. "The secret that you've been hiding. We all know it, we're just waiting for you to tell us!" She leans in and whispers, "Don't you trust them? They care about you, you know."

"N-no, they don't know." Lincoln stammers, "L-Lori and I-"

Quickly, Sambell places a finger on the boy's mouth, "Enough talk. Your older sister Lori won't be meeting us today."

"W-why?!" Lincoln tries to fight back, only for the girl to easily overpower him, making sure to latch on tightly.

"She has been 'removed' from your family." She snickers, "She decided to not tell everyone about your little 'problem'. She sealed her fate with everyone else, but your sisters have decided to give you another chance."

"H-how do you know?!" The boy tries to fight against the girl, managing to move her hand slightly, loosening her grip on him.

"Because, Lincoln." She stares into his eyes once more, "It is destiny! The stars have dictated it!" Her pupils glow red, while her sclera become a murky black. "You must pay for keeping your sisters in the dark!"

The boy's young heart races in response, _"I-I have to get away!"_ He thinks, before using the adrenaline coursing through his veins to break free of his captor and rush out of his room. He sprints through the hallway, before banking left and rushing down the stairs, "Girls, where are you?!"

Quickly, he ducks and rolls into the living room, only to find eight of his sisters standing by, their eyes wide open and their movements ever so zombie-like.

"Hello Lincoln." They speak in unison, "How are you going today?"

"F-fine girls." He tries to stammer, before backing up, slowly trying to make his way back up the stairs, _"I just gotta stay away. Something crazy is going on and I don't wanna get caught in it all!"_

Yet, as he tries to back away, another one of his sisters gets in his way.

She leans her head over his shoulder and plants a soft kiss on his cheek, before wrapping her arms around him and whispering in his ear, "Anything you wanna tell us, little bro?"

"N-no Luna! Nothing!" Lincoln immediately ducks under the hug, before jumping onto the stair railing and sliding down, allowing him to jump over his sisters and bolt into the kitchen. _"Thank goodness I figured out that trick!"_

Quickly, he looks back, hoping that he isn't followed. And after a moment of waiting, he takes breath and places his hands on his knees. _"I'm safe."_

"Hi, Lincy." Another voice greets, prompting the young boy's eyes to go wide once more. Slowly, he raises his head, allowing his soft gaze to fall upon his second oldest sibling, her calm smile begging him to come in and open himself up.

"L-Leni! I'm fine, really I am!" He holds his hands in front of him, trying to signal his surrender.

Yet, Leni refuses the offer, choosing instead to throw her arms around him, pulling the young boy into one of her famous bear hugs. "Hugs make everything better Linc…" He soft voice pierces the boy's chaotic thoughts.

"Please, let me go!" Lincoln begs, desperately trying to break free as he does so. Though, even he knows that once Leni gets her hands on something, she won't let go until she's done everything she can with it.

"Shh…" She whispers, kissing her little brother's forehead in an attempt to calm him down. In a normal case, a kiss like that would feel nice; and yet here, all it does is leave a burning sensation in the spot she had touched.

"Please…" He whispers, "What do you want?"

"For you to tell me the truth." Leni speaks in a soft, calm voice, while she runs her hand through the young boy's pure, white hair.

"N-no, I can't!" Lincoln struggles against his sister's bear hug, but to no avail, "You- you girls wouldn't understand! You'd go crazy! I- I just want you girls to be happy!"

Undeterred, Leni pulls him in closer, "Lincy, you're my baby brother. I want you to feel safe! Don't you trust me?" She sniffles, and though he can't see them, soft tears begin to flow down her cheeks, staining the boy's hair, "Don't you trust us?"

"I… I do Leni." Lincoln counters, "It's just, I don't know if… if…" His voice trails off.

"If what?" Leni begins to loosen her grip on the boy, allowing him to slowly turn them around and step backwards. Leni, of course doesn't notice. "If we can handle it?"

"Yes!" Lincoln fearfully answers, "Every time something bad happens, or something gets worse, you girls try to fix it and just end up making things worse!" His voice fills with pain, "I just want you girls to be happy, to keep the chaos you make as easy as possible to live with!"

"Oh Lincy…" Leni pulls him in closer once more- close enough to eve hear her heart beat.

"L-Leni?!" Lincoln repeats, unsure of just how to continue, though his sister responds by tightening the embrace.

"Please… please understand, I'm doing this for you!" The boy shouts. "You girls, I love you, I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Please Lincy, tell me the truth." Leni breaks the hug, and kneels down, allowing her to look into his eyes with a puppy-dog's gaze.

"N-no!" Lincoln stammers, _"I have to keep up the charade, just a bit longer!"_ before quickly grabbing the back door's handle and pushing through, causing him to fall into the backyard. "You girls don't need to know yet!"

"You're going to have to tell us eventually." Lucy wastes no time appearing in front of him, "I love you Lincoln, please let me into your lonely soul."

Lincoln jumps to his feet in response, quickly shaking his head as his answer, "No! There's nothing to talk about! Everything's fine!"

"Is it, dear brother?" Despite the black hair covering her eyes, Lincoln can tell the Gothic Girl is staring at him with a begging gaze, "You've been acting so strangely, why is that?"

"Yeah! I'm just under the weather! Everything's just fine!" He quickly scans his surroundings, only to realize that he is surrounded by nine of the ten girls he calls his sisters. Frantically, he cries out, "Lori! Please help me!"

"She's no longer with us." Lynn speaks with a sadistic voice, appearing behind Lincoln as she does so.

The boy's eyes go wide, "What did you do with her?!"

"The same thing we're about to do to you." The athlete cracks her knuckles, "You know we don't like people lying to us."

"This can all be avoided if you just tell us what's going on." Luna cuts in, her voice harshening while her eyes begin to glow red with anger.

He backs up, causing his back to hit the fence enclosing the exterior of his home. "It's all right…"

"A shame." Leni shakes her head, "Then I guess you leave us no choice."

Then, the nine siblings ready their fists, before jumping up and pouncing on the young boy.

* * *

"No… no!" Lincoln mutters, though given the quietness of his words, none here his cries. Then, suddenly, the boy's eyes jolt open, "G'ahh!" he shouts, wasting no time darting his head from side-to-side, allowing him to take in the motel room around him. He pants for a short moment, his mind racing with fear as its fuel, _"That… that was a dream?"_ He gulps, thankful that his sisters hadn't awoken despite his rather loud outburst. _"The girls must've been really, tired from last night…"_ Before putting himself to ease with a breath.

"Ugh, Lincoln…" Lola groans, before promptly falling back asleep, no doubt she preferred beauty sleep other chastising her brother for the umpteenth time.

Not willing to take his chances further, he hops to his feet and runs out the door, not noticing the young woman he had awoken.

" _Why is this happening to me?"_ He thinks, before digging his hand in his pocket, pulling out a bottle of pills as he does so. Then, he shoves one in his mouth and swallows, allowing the hard tablet to trickle down his throat. Then, before he knows it, the bottle's back in his pocket, hidden from the prying eyes of any of sisters. _"This isn't fair."_ He grimaces in frustration, before turning and slamming his hand against the motel wall. _"Why me?"_

"Lincoln?" Lynn tiredly rubs her eyes, "What's up? Why are you up so early?"

Lincoln quickly recomposes herself, Lori's words silently echoing through his mind, "Nothing Lynn, I just feel refreshed and stuff, you know…"

The young girl stares at him for a moment and raises a skeptical eyebrow, "You sure bro? I've never seen you so frustrated before… what's going on?"

"It's nothing." He answers, "I'm just annoyed because I, uhh, haven't gotten my summer reading done yet and because we're on vacation, I'm probably not gonna have it done in time."

" _He's lying… he always does his summer reading in the first month…"_ Lynn's gaze softens as she approaches her brother, "Linc, you and Lori have been acting weird ever since you left the hospital…" She places a hand on his shoulder, "What's going on?"

Though, the boy wastes no time pushing her off, "No, everything's fine, Lynn. Really, everything is." He takes a deep breath, "Just… where's Lori? I need to talk to her."

"Wait…" Lynn tilts her head in confusion, "She's not out here with you?"

Lincoln shakes his head, "No, I was just feelin' a bit cramped in their so I came out here?" He then tilts his head in response, "Why? What's going on?"

The young athlete's eyes go wide in surprise, "L-Lori's not in the room!"

The boy's eyes go wide, "She… she's not in our room?!"

"Yeah… I don't know what happened to her…" The young woman looks around for a moment.

"M-maybe she just decided to sleep in Vanzilla for the night. She's always talking about how comfortable the driver's seat is, right?" Lincoln stammers, before scanning the parking lot for the Loud's infamous ride.

Only for the duo to both realize its absence.

"Wh-what happened to it?!" Lincoln shouts.

Leaving Lynn to shake her head in surprise, "I don't know… it's not like Lori to do something like this…"

 _ **Earlier…**_

That morning, Lori wakes up softly, just as she has done for years. Carefully, she sits up in her shared bed- given the fact that al ten children had to be crammed into one room, accompanied by the oversized beds, Lincoln, Lori, Lana and Lily shared a bed, while Leni, Lola, Luan and Lisa shared the other. Luna and Lynn slept on the floor, and Lucy decided to sleep in the vent.

" _Ok Lori, just stay calm and get through this all."_ Lori takes a deep breath, before calmly and carefully climbing out of the bed, making sure not to disturb her sleeping siblings.

*Yawn* she goes while she tiredly shuffles out of their shared motel room- thankfully, since it is the end of the season, most of the motels began to open up… though that doesn't mean that they'd be willing to scrounge up the extra money for multiple rooms.

" _So, what's the plan for today, Lori?"_ She rubs her head, desperate to fight the pounding headache that results from having to sleep with all ten of her siblings. _"Ok, before anyone wakes up, I'm gonna take the van to the nearest convenience store and gas station to get a test and to fuel up."_ She peeks back into the room, confirming that her siblings continue to rest _"I just gotta get back before they wake up and they'll be none the wiser…"_

And so, Lori carefully grabs her purse and steps out of the motel room, not even bothering to change out of her nightclothes as she does so- though she does grab her short shorts. After that, she hops in Vanzilla and drives off, silently hoping that they would not notice her absence.

 _ **A Few Moments Later...**_

Lori wastes no time heading into the nearby town, skillfully maneuvers Vanzilla through its winding roads until she comes across a small, plain store filled with random wares of all types… though Lori knows she's only came for one thing.

She sprints inside, pays for the item as well as some goodies to put her sibling's fears at rest and comes out with a bag filled with chocolate just in case the stress becomes too much for her to handle, before leaving as quickly as she had arrived leaving skid marks in her wake.

" _Ok, so far, so good. Just gotta make sure that those guys think so as well."_ And within moments, she is back at the motel room, test in hand.

" _I just gotta make sure that the chocolate stays hidden until after I do this…"_

She takes a deep breath and opens up the door to their room…. Only to find her ten siblings waiting for her, their arms crossed and furious expressions on their faces.

Awkwardly, she raises her hand to greet, "Hey guys, what's up?"

"What's up?" Luna raises a skeptical eyebrow, "You ditching us is what's up!"

"Yeah!" Lola cuts in, flaring her arms as she does so, "Where'd you go Lori and what's in the bag?!"

Lori's face goes red in embarrassment, _"I can't tell them anything yet. I'm not even sure myself!"_ She glances at Lincoln, secretly knowing that his anger includes fear that she had abandoned him., "Oh this thing? It's nothing!" she holds the bad up and waves her sibling off.

"Then mind showing us what was so important that you just had to run in almost nothing to get, while we were still asleep?" Lincoln painfully spits out. _"You know what's going on, why'd you do it Lori?!"_

The eldest sister shakes her head, "Nope!" Before she pushes her way passed her siblings and walks into the bathroom, locking the door behind her as she does so.

Lynn scratches her head, "Huh, I wonder what's gotten her so riled up all of a sudden…"

Lisa, meanwhile, remains silent, knowing that she is the cause of this morning's events, though even she cannot help but feel ever so slightly responsible for Lori's nervous behavior. _"I should have just waited a bit longer. Then again, I choose not to put her into situations that would put an infant at risk."_

For the next moment after that, the room remains silent, as if all ten siblings are listening in on just what their eldest member is doing… though after the moment passes, it is Lynn that breaks the silence.

"That was weird." Lynn quips, before nudging Lincoln, "Yo Linc, do you know what's goin' on with her?"

"Huh? No." Lincoln hastily responds, _"Does it have something to do with me? No… it can't… maybe…"_ He sighs and shakes his head.

"You dude, maybe we should just leave her alone, I mean, Lori would never abandon us, right?" Luna hops to her feet and joins the group, "Right?"

Leni rubs her chin, "Maybe, though wasn't there that time she left me waiting at the mall?"

Lucy suddenly appears at her side, "That was the bus, and we were both waiting for it, remember?"

"Right…" Leni goes, though she still can't help but rub her chin.

And with that, the Loud Siblings shrug, before walking away from the door, leaving the young woman to her business.

For a moment, Lori sits on the open toilet, _"Please be wrong Lisa, please be wrong."_ Before she pulls out the test- a small white plastic strip with a screen in which two lines would appear if Lisa was right and one if she was not. _"Here we go."_

She begins the test and waits for the result.

Her heart races as she holds up the small plastic stick, _"Come on…"_

Another minute passes, before two lines appear on the test's screen.

" _No…"_ Lori quickly hops to her feet, _"This has just gone from bad to worse…"_ Immediately, she shoves the test in her pocket and opens up. _"I gotta make sure this doesn't get out either… not until Bobby knows."_ She mentally kicks herself for letting this happen and at the same time they are far from home too!

"Hey guys!" She greets.

"Well, what'd ya get us?!" Lana immediately asks, running over and grabbing onto the girl's legs as she does so.

" _Thank goodness I remembered this."_ Quickly she shoves her hand in the bag and throws out some candy, which the six-year-old happily takes, "Thanks Lori!"

" _Good…"_ Lori loosens her grip on the bag, _"Now I just gotta…"_

*Click* A flash beams through the room, startling everyone for a moment, as well as causing the Louds to turn towards the source.

"What the…" Lori quickly looks down and finds a small, disposable camera resting at her feet, _"I don't remember buying this… though I was in a hurry so I guess…"_

"Hey Lori, what's with the camera?" Lynn raises an eyebrow in confusion.

" _Come on Lori, think fast!"_ The young woman takes it in her hands and shrugs, "Well while I was at the store I saw this and though, 'hey, we're on vacation, so why not make it more fun?' and so I decided to buy this."

Lola crosses her arms, "Uhh Lori, you do know we have phones, right? I mean really? A disposable camera?" She flips her hair at her sister, "Those things could never grasp the subtleties of a pageant queen-"

"Yeah, plus, it makes you gain ten pounds!" Leni cuts off her vain sister, much to everyone's delight.

"Come on guys! At least give it a chance!" Luan can't help but chuckle, "This is gonna need a **photo finish**!"

"Literally whatever." Lori pinches the bridge of her nose, "But she is right, besides, I spent ten dollars on this! We can't let it go to waste!"

A few grumblings of "fine" later and Lori shoves the device in her pocket.

The eldest sister then puts on a strong front and nods, "All right girls, Bobby and Ronnie Anne aren't gonna be comin' round for another few hours, so what do you guys wanna do till then?"

Immediately, Leni's hand flew up, yet Lori already knows what she is going to suggest, "No Leni, we're not going to Dairyland until we have Bobby and Ronnie Anne here."

Leni's hand immediately returns to its resting place.

*Grumble*

Lynn holds her aching stomach for a moment, "Hey Lori, how about we go to Burpin' Burger? I remember passing by one on the way here."

"Yeah!" Luna cuts in, "We gotta have some way to fight our hunger pangs!"

"Now, normally I'd detest going to some place so… oily and gross…" Lola starts, "But I'll make an exception for Burpin' Burger!"

And within moments, the rest of the Loud siblings express similar sentiments.

Lori takes a breath, "All right then, it's settled, we're gonna go to Burpin Burger. Pack your stuff, I doubt we'll be coming back here, all right guys?"

"Yeah, no one wants to be **left behind**!" Luan can't help, but laugh, before moving to pack her things as well.

And within the hour, the Louds have packed up once more, and head back on the road.

" _Just keep going, just keep going…"_

"Life is a highway…" Luna sings, serenading her siblings as they drive along. "I wanna ride it all night long!"

"Luna, that is literally…" Lori starts, only to chuckle, "Rather fitting actually.

"Course, cause we're getting **high** this **way**!" Luan puns, eliciting a laugh from Lori, while everyone else groans.

After a few minutes, a small restaurant with a burping man sign comes into view. And Lori wastes no time pulling into the parking lot of the store. "All right girls, you know what to do, behave!"

"Whatever Lori!" Lynn cheers, before hopping out of the van, he siblings not hesitating to follow.

Though Lincoln and Lucy remain, the former out curiosity and the latter out of devotion to the former.

"You coming, Lori?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"Y-yeah…" The older girl responds, "Why you ask?"

"Well for one, you haven't let go of the wheel…" The young boy motions towards her unmoved hands, "And second, what happened this morning?"

"Nothing!" She quickly responds, her voice filling with fear.

"Lori… why did you really leave this morning? Lynn and Luna were really worried about you." Lincoln's voice fills with concern; "You usually say something before you go somewhere."

The young pulls the keys from the car and hops out, "It's nothing, come on, those guys are gonna get themselves kicked out if we don't handle them"

Then, before Lincoln or Lucy can ask her to elaborate, she walks away, making sure to pull out her phone as she does so.

"Lucy…" Lincoln starts.

"What is it?" She cheerfully asks.

"Is it just me or is Lori acting even more awkward than usual?" The boy turns and tries to look into the young girl's eyes, though her black hair obscures her pupils.

Lucy keeps her wide smile, "I'm sure it's nothing!" though; she can't help but think, _"What could she be thinking about now?"_

" _It's never nothing…"_ In defeat, Lincoln sighs, "I guess it's all right then…" Before he starts walking, allowing the duo to follow his sisters.

* * *

As soon as Lori stepped through the front door, she knows that everything isn't going to be as easy as she hopes. "This trip is rocking!" Luna shouts, before following it up with her song.

Lynn and Lana, of course, waste no time hopping in and out of the ball pit. Luan, somehow manages to get the clown to walk away- no doubt to resign from his job- Lola decides to play with one of the plastic crowns, and Leni… she poses with the same.

Luckily for her, things go smoothly after that, with her younger siblings choosing to live up to their family name as much as they can pull off… well save for her, Lincoln and Lucy. And they eventually end up at one of the tables, eating the nice food they could get and all the mustard to season it.

"All right guys, eat up, we're gonna be on the road for quite a while today and I don't wanna make any more pit stops!" The elest commands, taking a bite out of her burger as she does so.

What follows is the random chatter of ideas and suggestions for where they can go, though Lori tunes out for most of it.

"Yo Lori…" Luna nudges her older sister, "You and Linc have been real quiet ever since that hospital visit."

"Huh?" She snaps back to reality, "Oh Luna, what's up?"

Quickly, Luna glances around, making sure that her siblings are too distracted by their own conversations to notice her, "You ok?"

" _I should tell them… They deserve to know…"_ Lori quickly shakes her head and turns to Luna, "Everything's all right. Lincoln and I are still tired from that night ya know."

"I dunno mate, I mean, really tired and then going out while we were all asleep?" The musician narrows her eyes at her elder sister, "Are you sure you're not hiding somethin'?"

"Course I am!" Lori nearly shouts, catching the attention of her siblings.

Lynn is the first to turn to Lori, "About what Lori?" with the rest of their siblings following suit.

"Nothing." She shakes her head, "Luna was just asking me about this morning."

"Oh right!" Lana speaks up, "What was that about?"

"I may…" Lisa tries to speak up, though she stops when she notices Lori staring daggers at her, "… Suggest that we get more food…"

"Yeah!" Luan speaks up, "We wouldn't wanna go **cold turkey**!" Then she throws her head back and laughs, while her siblings groan.

"By the way, Lori, where are we going today anyways?" Lana tilts her head in curiosity.

"Well, while I couldn't get a hold of mom and dad…" Lori pulls out her phone and a small map she had grabbed, "I was able to convince Bobby to come by with Ronnie Anne."

"We know, we just wanna know where else we're going next." Lynn cuts her off. "You know, before they get here."

" _Right…"_ Lori motions towards the map, "The plan right now is to go to Dairy Flags."

"No stops?" Lola tilts her head in confusion, "Aren't there a ton of things we can do before we get there?"

"Only if you guys want to." Lori turns to face the road and drives off. "Though, I don't think there's much to do besides that."

"Hey, so who wants to play a game?" Lynn cheerfully asks, pulling out one of her new balls. Quickly, she nudges Lincoln, "How about auto-attack."

Lincoln shivers at the mere thought of that game, "How about, uhh…" He quickly looks around, "Uhh…"

"How about I put on some music?" Lori suggests, _"These girls will fall asleep soon enough, please."_ And before she knows it, a small lullaby resonates through the vehicle, putting the young children to sleep once more…

 _ **Later…**_

" _What am I gonna tell him?"_ Lori pulls up into the small town surrounding Dairyland Amoosment Park, _"I mean, he knows I'm being serious, right?"_ She leans back and closes her eyes, with that, allowing the conversation the day prior to come back into view.

* * *

"Hey Bobby!" Lori meekly greeted.

"Wow, I'm back and the first thing is you call! Haha!" Bobby quipped. "What's up Babe?

Lori hesitated, _"No, I can't tell him like this… I have to do this in person."_

"Babe?" Bobby's voice filled with concern, prompting Lori to continue, "Oh, sorry, I just uhh… wanted to know how your vacation was and stuff…"

The young man's voice filled with relief, "Oh, it was all right I guess. Ronnie wouldn't stop talking about how much she felt out of place in Canada… though she loved the CN Tower and all that stuff…"

"Heh, that sounds great…" Lori's voice trails off, before she continues, "Hey Bobby, my sibs and I decided to go on a little road trip before we went home…"

Concern filled Bobby's voice, "Uhh babe, is something going on?"

"Yeah…" Lori stuttered, "I just, uhh… wanted to know if you could come along for the ride and stuff…"

"I dunno babe." Bobby answers, "I mean, we just got back and…"

Yet, before he can finish, Lori cuts him off with, "Please, I need you here…"

"But Lorelei…"

"Roberto, please." She begged.

Now, as much as Bobby wanted to lie down and finish unpacking, something about Lori… clicked with him, _"I don't even know what I'm gonna tell Ronnie…"_ Yet, despite the feeling welling up within him, he took a deep breath, "All right Lori… I'll uhh, find a way to get to ya."

"Thanks." Lori answered, relief filling her body, though soft tears continued to stream from her eyes. "We're getting close to Dairy Flags, so uhh, how about we meet in the town?"

"That's fine, babe." Bobby answers. "I'll see ya there!"

"And don't forget to bring Ronnie Anne!" Lori quickly adds, while her thoughts add, _"Lincoln has some business he needs to get done with her…"_

"All right Babe, see ya!"

"See ya, Bobby Boo-Boo Bear!"

And with that, the line went dead, followed by the young woman dropping her arms limply at her sides, _"All right, I just gotta wait around a bit and I'm sure that Bobby is gonna come, I mean, everything's gonna be all right, right?"_ She takes a deep breath and leans back.

* * *

For a moment, she considers letting herself fall asleep with the meager hope that her partner would wake her up… though she knows just how fruitless that would be. So instead, she simply leans back, quietly taking in the silence.

"Lori…"

That was short lived.

The woman turns around, allowing her gaze to fall upon the only conscious Loud sibling- the young Goth.

"Yeah Lucy?" The young woman asks with a smile.

"Could I… talk to you?" Lucy worriedly continues, her soft voice only barely overtaking her siblings' snores.

"Sure…" Lori shrugs, before getting out of the van and landing in a small parking lot. "What's up?"

"Lori… I know…" Lucy whispers, her voice becoming even meeker than it typically is.

Lori's heart begins to speed up, _"No… no she can't know! No one's told them anything! Doc Thomas made sure that only we'd know!"_

"Know what?" Lori sheepishly asks, desperate to maintain the lie.

"Lincoln's not doing well…" She continues, staring at the asphalt as she does so.

The elder's voice fills with disbelief, "But… how?"

"Someone left a vent open…" The young girl continues, "I crawled through and well… I heard what the doctor said…" She rubs her arm.

Lori remains silent for a moment, choosing instead to allow her own sister to finish first- an act that Lucy had silently hoped she would not do, "Lori… what's going on with mom and dad, really."

" _There's no point in hiding it now, huh?"_ Lori takes a deep breath in response, "Mom and dad haven't been answering, and I don't know why…"

Lucy begins to tear up, "And this trip?"

"I wanted you guys to be happy so…" Lori sighs, "When we finally break the news… things won't be as bad."

This time, it's Lucy's turn to remain silent, while Lori continues reluctantly, "Lincoln and I were planning to tell all of you guys together…"

The young girl hesitates, "And that trip this morning?"

"I'll tell you what that was later, ok?" She looks at the young girl with a begging gaze.

For a moment, the younger girl considers pushing her elder sibling to explain herself, but relents when her covered eyes fall upon the begging visage of her once-bossy sister.

"Sigh, ok…" And with that, she walks away.

*Beep* *Beep* Lori's phone goes.

No sooner than it goes off than it's in the young girl's hands, with her typing in the address of her family,

And within a few moments, a small, silver car pulls up, followed by Bobby and Ronnie Anne stepping out of it.

1-14-4 23-9-20-8 20-8-1-20 14-5-23 12-9-6-5 20-1-11-9-14-7 25-15-21 9-14, 6-15-12-12-15-23 9-20 20-15 25-15-21-18 14-5-23 8-15-13-5

 **A/N And that's part 3 to this triple update weekend! I hope you enjoyed guys!**


	11. Loving Revelations

**A/N I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea how I wrote this in only 2 weeks. Let me explain, for this story I write out the draft on looseleaf paper. It takes about a week to do it all (since the first draft is about 30 pages long written). It takes another week to transcribe this and edit, and that's if school doesn't get in the way. So yeah, I hope you enjoy my overclocking!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Eleven: Loving Revelations

"Oh Bobby!" Lori wastes no time running up to the young Latino man in her midst, throwing her arms around him as she does so- pulling him into a soft embrace, "I can't believe you're finally here!"

For a moment, the young man looks on in surprise. Even back home, Lori was never this jumpy to hug him after all. And yet, once he regains his composure, he smiles and returns the embrace, "Well, it sounded pretty urgent, so I made sure to book it here as fast as I could."

" _Thank you Bobby… thank you…"_ Lori nestles herself into his chest, before smiling in relief, "Thanks, I'm excited to spend the day with you!"

Bobby, simply nuzzles her head in excitement.

Nearby, Ronnie Anne pinches the bridge of her nose, "Seriously? It's literally been only thirty seconds!" She shakes her head, while Lincoln comes up to her side.

"H-hey Ronnie Anne." He awkwardly greets, while rubbing his arm, "What's up?"

"Oh nothing." She shakes her head, "I'm just annoyed that my brother and Lori wasted no time getting back together after we came back from vacation!"

" _Well… it doesn't look like she's in that good of a mood…"_ Lincoln takes a deep breath, before continuing, "Heh, well I guess you really feel inconvenienced, huh?" He tilts his head to feign curiosity.

Ronnie Anne flares her arms in response, "No duh I'm annoyed! We literally got home yesterday and before I could even start unpacking, he told me to grab my stuff and get in the car!" She then crossed her arms in frustration, "And before I knew it, we were driving to meet up with you guys!"

" _I have to calm her down, I just have to…"_ Lincoln takes a deep breath, before placing his hand on her shoulder, "Come on Ronnie Anne, it's not all bad around here, is it?"

For a moment, the young Latino Girl hesitates, before giving him a soft smile and loosening up, "Well… that is true… at least I get to see you again."

Immediately, the white-haired boy blushes in embarrassment, "Oh, well, I uhh… yeah." He awkwardly rubs the back of his head, "I was just thinkin' it was nice to see you too!"

The young girl chuckles, before playfully punching his arm, "Heh, all right Lame-O." She loosens up, with her arms held limply at her sides, "So what are you doin' on this road trip thingy? Bobby didn't really tell me anything before he grabbed me and drove off." She rubs her chin, _"Now that I think of it, I don't even think he told mom about this…"_

" _I should tell her… she deserves to know too, right?"_ The boy mentally shakes his head, " _No, bad idea. If I'm not telling the girls without Lori agreeing then Ronnie Anne is definitely not gonna know until after I tell the girls... whenever I do that at least…"_

*Snap* Ronnie Anne flicks her fingers in front of the boy, "Hey Lincoln, earth to Lincoln!"

"G'ahh!" He shakes himself back to reality, "Oh, sorry about that Ronnie Anne." He shrugs, "No much has happened around here, really there hasn't." he looks her in the eyes, before finishing with a soft voice, "Lori's been runnin' the show so far, the rest of us are just along for the ride."

"Heh, I'd like to say that surprises me, but it doesn't." The young girl laughs, before looking out, into the busy street nearby- the line of pavement a buzz with all the people trying to move in and out of Dairyflags, "It's the perfect time of year to have a fun trip, don't ya think?"

"Heh, heh, yeah…" Lincoln's voice trails off, before he quickly perks up, "Speaking of trips, how'd you enjoy Canada?"

For a moment, the young girl hesitates, before simply facepalming in frustration, "Ugh where to start?" She shakes her head, "I'll admit, it was nice up there, really, it was! But man, Bobby couldn't go more than five minutes without taking a photo!" She flares her arms in an attempt to emphasize her point, "I mean yeah, it's nice and all, but come on! He was doing it so much that I couldn't even have a chance to enjoy it all!"

"Heh, I guess you're right." Lincoln can't help, but smile at the young girl, "Though, I'm sure he meant well. He is your brother after all."

"Yeah, yeah…" She rubs her arm, 'I just wish he'd spend more time enjoying it all and less time trying to remember everything, ya know?"

" _Yeah, but when the world takes everything else, those memories are all that'll be left…"_ He shrugs in response, "Well, if he was anything like he is back home, I'll probably agree with that." He then turns around, allowing his gaze to fall upon nine of his ten siblings- each sporting a look of excitement or seduction.

Lincoln holds his fist up to his mouth and coughs, "Uhh hey guys, you mind givin' us some privacy? I'm tryin' to catch up with a friend I haven't seen in months!"

"Mhmm…" the sisters calmly respond, before shuffling away in unison, much to the young boy's relief, _"Great, they're handled for now, so all that's left is Ronnie Anne."_ He then turns to the young girl, before continuing to catch up with her, much to both of their delight.

And while that goes on, their two eldest members continue to talk.

"All right babe, what's the plan?" bobby tilts his head in curiosity, making sure not to break eye contact with his partner.

For a moment, Lori considers taking the family into the nearby amoosment park, just as she had done just a few days prior. And yet, she simply shakes her head, _"Bad idea, they're not all gonna wanna go to the park just because we went to one a few days ago!"_ And so, she takes a deep breath, "How about this, Bobby, we let everyone go around and enjoy themselves, if they wanna go to Dairyflags, they can, and if they wanna explore the town, they can."

"Huh, I thought everyone would wanna go to the park?" The young man tilts his head in confusion.

"I mean, we did go to a park just a few days ago, I'm not sure if they'd wanna do it again and stuff." Lori rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "Though now that I think of it, it was pretty crummy… so I'd understand if they didn't wanna go."

Bobby considers the idea for a moment, before simply shrugging, "All right then, I think that's a good idea too." He turns to face his little sister, the young girl talking and laughing with Lori's little brother, "Just make sure Nie Nie is ok, all right?"

Lori wastes no time waving him off, "Come on Bobby, Ronnie Anne's gonna be fine! She's done way crazier stuff than this before!

"Then it sounds like a plan." The young man takes a deep breath in defeat, before turning back to his partner, "And how about us? What are we gonna do if we're not all going to Dairyflags and stuff?"

"Well…" Lori thinks for a moment, _"I have to tell him the truth… that means…"_ Before she takes a deep breath, "Well, on the way here, I remember we passed by a park. We can pass by some of the stores and get some picnic supplies and have some fun there."

In response, Bobby rubs his chin, _"Well… I never did get a chance to go camping with dad before he…"_ He looks back at his partner- her hands trembling and lip quaking in fear, almost as if she is silently begging him to simply go along with her request, no matter how crazy or desperate it sounds. And so the young man relents. "All right then, I mean, it's strange and I've never done it before, but I guess it can be fun."

Lori smiles in relief, fighting the urge to squeal as she does so, "All right then, let's go tell the others."

Bobby nods, and with that, they both turn to face their younger siblings- all eleven of them talking amongst themselves with paying no mind to the young adults leading the pack. With a nod, Lori shoves her hands in her mouth and whistles, immediately bringing the attention of her siblings upon her.

"G'ahh!" Leni stumbles back in confusion, though luckily, Luna is able to catch her before she falls back and hurts herself in confusion.

"Lori! You know how Leni reacts when you blow a whistle like that!" The musician snaps, much to the dismay of her leader.

"Sorry about that." The young woman sighs, "I just forgot it this once." She shake her head, "Anyways, this is how it's gonna go…" She runs her hand along her side for a moment, before finding Bobby's and interlocking her own with it, "We've decided to let you have fun the ways you want to."

"Oh?" Lana steps forward from the crowd, tilting her head in confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simple." She motions towards the nearby amusement park. From where they stand, they can barely see the people screaming at the excitement of their rides, "You can go to Dairyflags if you want or just go around the town and enjoy yourselves. From what I saw while we were driving in, there's plenty to do."

Immediately, the Louds begin to talk amongst themselves once more, no doubt this time trying to decide where each of them would go and how they would enjoy their newfound freedom.

Quickly, the young woman snaps her fingers, bringing the focus back on her, "As for Bobby and I, we'll be having a picnic, ok? If anyone needs anything, don't hesitate to call." She put her hands on her hips in an attempt to give off a threatening stance, _"Yeah… especially after what happened the last time we ended up in the hospital, I don't need anymore crazy revelations."_

"All right then." Luna goes, softly plucking the strings of her guitar as she does so. "Same deal as before, right?"

Lori nods, "Yeah, just pair off and don't get into any trouble, ok? GO have fun!" And to further illustrate her point, she waves for them to go away, not that any of them mind of course. After that, Lori and Bobby turn and break away from the group.

And with that, the you Louds look at each other for a moment, before nodding and breaking off, allowing Lincoln to approach Ronnie Anne with, "So where do you wanna go, Ronnie Anne? Dairyflags has some stuff I'm sure-" he tries to start, only for the Latino girl to grab his arm and smile.

"Come on Lincoln." She chuckles, "We both know you and I wanna go to Dairyflags!" She places one hand to cover her mouth while using the second to motion towards his sisters, "At least there, we'll have a chance to out run them."

"Heh, true." Lincoln chuckles, before rubbing the back of his head with a smile, "All right, I guess we know where to go." Before the two interlock arms and start to walk away, with the remaining siblings waiting no time following them along- though making sure to hide as they do so- leaving Lucy and Lynn alone

"Welp!" Lucy quickly steps forward to follow in the path of her siblings, "I guess I'm gonna go-" yet, before she has the chance to finish, Lynn grabs her by the collar of her dress and forcibly turns her to face her, "Oh no, you're not gonna leave here until you tell me what's going on!"

The young Goth's eyes go wide in shock, "What do you mean?" Though she does her best not to break her overly happy demeanor.

Lynn stares at her for a moment, before shaking her head, "You, Linc and Lori have all been acting weird ever since you left the hospital, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who's noticed." She looks passed Lucy's bangs and straight into her blue eyes, "Now, normally I'd let this stuff go as typical you stuff. But Lori leaving earlier was the last straw."

"W-what do you want me to do?!" Lucy fearfully asks, her heart and mind racing in anticipation of her answer.

"I know you're not gonna spill. If you were, you would've done it by now." The athlete shakes her head, "So instead, I want you to help me watch Bobby and Lori."

"A-and if I refuse?" Lucy stammers.

"Then I'll grill, roast and burn you until you tell me." She leans in and whispers into the young girl's ear, "And I'm pretty sure you don't want me trying to beat the answer out of you, now do you?"

" _Well… I suppose it's a better idea than just getting out with it and the others suffocating him and me for not telling them…"_ Lucy sighs in defeat, "Very well then, I shall help you, but you must not tell anyone what you see."

"No problem." Lynn responds, before dropping the young girl allowing her to grab her notebook from the car, before she nods and runs off, with the young athlete following soon after.

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

"All right babe…" Bobby takes a seat upon the calm park grass. Despite the rather beautiful time of year to start a picnic or simply have a family day out, the small park doesn't seem to receive that much traffic. In fact, the only people Lori notices standing around besides her and her partner, are a mothers simply pushing their carriages around! "What's goin' on around here?"

" _I just gotta ease into it all."_ Lori immediately thinks, before taking a deep breath, _"That way, everything's gonna be fine when I tell him, right?"_ She then lays down upon the small picnic rug they had bought, before motioning for him to sit next to her, "Come on, Boo Boo Bear, a girl can't wanna invite her boyfriend to have fun on vacation with?"

For a moment, Bobby hesitates. This doesn't make sense! One more she's on the verge of tears, while sounding desperate and begging for him to come join her, and the next, she's calm, cool and collected, simply motioning for him to enjoy the towel with her.

" _Yeah… something's going on with her."_ Bobby takes a deep breath, before laying down next to the young woman. "I mean, you can, babe." He looks up into the wild blue yonder, "It's just… when you called me, it sounded pretty serious and stuff. So I'm kinda confused and all…"

"Oh? I'm sorry for that." She looks away, _"Yeah… I can't hide this for long, I need to tell him or else he's gonna keep going at me until I tell him the truth!"_ She then takes a deep breath and waves him off with a smile, "Don't worry, everything's fine at the moment, really, everything is!"

Bobby simply looks on in confusion, _"But… that doesn't make sense, especially with how worried she sounded in the call…"_

And so, with a deep breath, Lori continues, "So why don't you tell me about you trip? I'm sure it was way better than what we did!" While she can't help but think, _"Yeah, plus… remembering all the good times you had with your sister might make the true hurt much less when I finally tell you it…"_

For a moment, Bobby remains silent, unsure of just what to say to the young woman, yet with a defeat sigh, he answers, "It was pretty fun I guess." He works desperately to fight the gnawing feeling building in the bottom of his stomach, "We went on a boat ride to see the falls and even got a chance to visit CN Tower." He turns to face his partner while forcing a chuckle, "Did ya know, it's pretty awesome and terrifying to stand on the glass floor on the underside of the top room?"

"I can imagine." Lori smiles, allowing the cool summer air to take her in, while also bringing in a warm front to comfort both her and her Boo Boo bear. After that, all seems calm, as if only her and her partner were the only things in existence and the only ones capable of enjoying what nature had provided.

Though, even she knows it would not last forever.

With his piece said, Bobby turns away and looks up, to face the sky. He wraps his arm around the young girl, hoping to provide some comfort in her distress, _"She's hiding something, I just need her to say what it is…"_

Lori responds, by placing her head on his arm, allowing him to pull her in closer. She hesitates once more, allowing herself to get pulled in by the young man's heat, _"He doesn't need to know, right? No… he deserves this… he needs this…"_ And so she continues, "We really didn't do anything." She looks away shamefully, "All we did was sit on the beach and do some hiking in the nearby hills. Nothing too big, really."

The young man raises a skeptical eyebrow, "Oh, really?" He then pushes himself up with his free arm, forcing Lori to sit up as well, "Come on, I'm sure you did something else!" he then turns to face her, allowing his gaze to fall upon the distressed visage of his partner.

"Yeah…" Lori begins to curl up, "Besides the usual chaos my family brings." Though she cannot help, but think, _"Yeah! Just your usual hospital visit and some tests! Heck, the girls don't even know the real reason they're even on this trip! Let alone what's going on with Lincoln!"_ She then looks up at him with a begging gaze, "Please Boo Boo bear, please tell me more about your trip."

The young man narrows his eyes at the young woman. After dating for close to two years, he had grown accustomed to Lori's random mood swings, but something about this one seems… off to him. It is as if she is trying to hide something from him, though he can't figure out what "All right then… While we were there, Ronnie Anne refused to take photos, for some reason?"

"Any specific reason?" Lori looks up at the boy in confusion, "I mean… your sister doesn't really seem like the type to love taking photos…"

"Well…" He rubs his chin, "She really didn't mention not wanting to have her photo taken. All she told me what that she didn't want to take all the photos ever or something like that." He sighs in defeat, "I don't get what was going up with her. I just don't…"

Lori releases herself from the tight position she had placed herself in, "Well… maybe she just thought you were taking a lot of photos or something." She gives a soft shrug, "You and I do take a ton of photos when we go on vacation, ya know!"

"Still…" Bobby pulls out his phone, "If you don't take photos, how are you supposed to memorialize all the fun times you have with someone?!"

"Heh… there are always your memories." The young woman answers, _"Yeah, memories never change, right?"_ Her mind begins to speed up, with uncertainty acting as its fuel, _"I mean yeah… holding on memories never change…"_ She waves him off, "Don't think too much about it, I'm sure it was just Ronnie Anne acting like herself and stuff!"

"If anything, I guess I'm just more disappointed than anything." Bobby begins to scroll through, "I mean, Ronnie Anne did end up taking a photo with me on top of CN tower, but that's all we got… besides the good photo I got of her on the boat."

" _But… memories fade and photos can last forever…"_ Suddenly, Lori finds herself running her hand down, into her short pocket. Thanks to Leni's craftsmanship, the garment, unlike the majority of women's clothing being sold at the Royal Woods Mall, had shallow pockets, just big enough to fit a certain device she had accidently picked up just a few hours prior.

And before she knows it, she is holding the device above them, a small smile forming as she does so, "Well, if it'll make you feel better, I got this old thing for cheap and I haven't had the chance to use it yet…" She looks at him with wavering eyes, "Wanna be the first thing I use it on?"

Instantly, Bobby smiles and leans in close to his partner, "Heh, of course Lori, anything for you."

" _All right, so far, so good."_ She takes a deep breath and silently prays that she is able to align the lens of the device properly, allowing the photo to be taken without issue and with both of them in it. Then, with the push of a button, a flash resonates from the lamp above the lens, signaling that the photo was a success.

"Heh…" Bobby chuckles, "So when are we gonna see how it came out?"

Lori leans up and shoves the device back in her pocket, "Well find out how they came out later. Remember, this thing needs to get developed before we can do anything else with it." She smiles at him, "You're the best, you know that, right?"

The young man pouts for a second, before smiling, and leaning back against their mat once more "Thanks babe."

" _Come on Lori, it's now or never! Take it now or you'll never tell him until it's too late!"_ She then takes a deep breath, "Hey Bobby… can I tell you something?"

The young man responds by sitting up and turning to face her, "Yeah babe, what's up?"

" _Just stay calm and everything's gonna be all right."_ She hesitates, before placing her hand on his, "You love me, right?" Her voice fills with uncertainty.

"Course I do!" Bobby immediately answers, shaking his head as he does so, "If you need to tell me anything, I'll listen!"

" _Just get on with it!"_ She thinks, causing her heart to race in anticipation. More uncertainty tries to cloud her mind, eagerly telling her that Bobby would never understand, that she had made a grave mistake and that she should just put the matter aside.

And yet, deep down, she knows, she can't hide from the truth.

So, she then lifts up and holds onto the boy's hands, her mind filling with the pained thoughts of what could happen if she doesn't play her cards right. "Bobby…"

"B-babe, what's going on?!" The young man begins to fill with fear as well, "Did… did you cheat on me? Do you wanna break up?!"

"N-no!" Lori counters, shaking her head, while soft tears begin to fill her eyes, "Bobby… do you remember what happened the night before you… before you left to Canada for the month?"

* * *

Instantly, the duo is transported back to that night. Their minds filled with the softness of the air and romance that had followed it. They both knew that they wanted to have a fun date, but given the storm raging outside and the storm that would be raging at the Loud Residence, they had decided to spend time together at the Santiago residence- their former home now having become a summer home.

Now, of course, if it were a typical night, they would have to contend with Ronnie Anne or Roberto's mother stopping them from the simple kissing that they just loved to participate in.

But that night was unlike other nights.

Ronnie Anne had decided to spend the night with Lincoln, using what little time remained before she and her brother went off to another country for a month to catch up whatever news the small town of royal woods could offer, while Mrs. Santiago had decided to spend the night at a friend's home, catching up with them as well.

All in all, that meant that they would have the house to themselves, even if it would be for only a little while.

Of course, neither of them could remember how, exactly, everything started. After all, they had promised each other to save their first time to after they got married. And yet, they just couldn't wait.

Lori remembers, vaguely, asking for Bobby to carry her up to his room, while Bobby lovingly complied.

Bobby can remember the moments that followed that, with him closing and locking the door- just in case his mother or sister decided to come home early.

And they both can remember what actions followed that.

That night, her soft cries mixed with his, and in the heat of the moment, the two lovers became one in a way that they had not expected to come so soon.

* * *

After they finish remembering what had happened, they simply stare at each other, unsure of just how to break the silence that had formed from their recollection.

And yet, once more, Lori is the one to start, "Bobby… do you remember too?" her heart pounds against her chest, _"Please Bobby… I can't go through this alone… please…"_

Yet, much to the young woman's relief, the young man nods in confirmation, "Yeah… that was an amazing night…" His voice trails off at the idea, "Look, Lori, I'm sorry what happened… if you wanna… you know, I completely understand." He looks away in shame, "I don't even know what came over me."

"Neither do I." She pauses, _"This is your last chance. You can back away now and he'll be none the wiser!"_ Before she shakes her head and pulls his hands tightly, "Bobby, I have to tell you something."

The young man perks up, looking into Lori's soft blue eyes as he does so, "Yeah?"

She takes one final deep breath, "Bobby, I'm pregnant."

Immediately, all of the blood flowing through the young Latino's body rushes to his head, "Wha-what?" he goes in disbelief.

Soft tears begin to flow down her cheeks, "Bobby, you're gonna be a father!"

"Oh…" He goes, before promptly falling back, unconscious.

" _Well this bodes well, now doesn't it."_ She sighs once more, _"But hey, at least it went better than I thought it would."_ Before she lies down at her partner's side, placing a soft kiss on his cheek as she does so, _"I just hope that he'll be able to take care of them… and I hope I will be too…"_ For a moment, she considers trying to wake him up, only to shake her head in denial, choosing instead to simply stare at the clouds floating above her, _"First Lincoln gets sick and we go on a trip and now I'm pregnant and the father just fainted."_ She can't help, but chuckle at the absurdity of her situation, before closing her eyes and nestling close to him, _"At least things just can't get any worse, right?"_

Unbeknownst to her, two young girls stand nearby, with the older of the two simply standing with her mouth wide open, while the ore Gothic of the duo, simply pulls in her arm, desperately trying to shrink away from the news.

"L-Lori's pregnant?!" Lynn half-shouts, desperate not to make herself known- though given the noise she is used to, that proves slightly difficult. "Why didn't she tell anyone?!"

" _Since when has she been pregnant?!"_ Lucy thinks in response, before she shakes her head, "I… I guess she wanted to just keep this a secret from everyone, even you guys…"

Immedaitley, Lynn grabs Lucy by the scruff of her neck, "Don't lie to me! How long have you known?!"

"Wha… what are you talking about?!" Lucy holds her hands up defensively.

"You sneak around ore than anyone else!" The athlete continues, "If anyone knows what's going on, it's you!" She then stares passed her bangs once more, "So tell me the truth, how long did you know?!"

"I'm telling the truth! I didn't know!" She shakes her head fearfully.

Lynn gives her one final judgmental stare, before dropping her, "Fine then. It looks like we're going to have another Loud coming around here soon." She then turns and looks out the bush they are hiding in, "And it looks like they're not going to be going anywhere for a long time.

"Well then, I suggest we wait to tell everyone!" Lucy continues.

"Oh? And why's that?" The young woman turns to face her little sister.

"Think about it, this is some big news!" Lucy puts on her wide grin once more, "let's wait before we tell everyone the news, they're gonna be excited, remember?!"

Lynn rubs her chin for a moment, "True, true." She then shrugs, "Fine then." She walks passed her sister, "We got what we came here for, so you can go do… whatever you want I guess, I legit don't care."

Lucy nods, _"I don't know how long I can keep covering for you guys. Please…"_ She then goes, "Sigh." Before walking into the nearby shadows and disappearing from view.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Heh, so Dairyland, huh?" Ronnie Anne holds Lincoln's hand and tightly as she can, taking passing glances at the amoosment park as she does so.

"What can I say." Lincoln shrugs in response, "It's summer, a trip to Dairyland's cousin Dairyflags is a pretty fun idea to come and enjoy it, ya know."

The young girl shrugs, "True, true. But still, isn't it a pain to come out here and stuff?" She tilts her head in curiosity, "Most people only come here as a special occasion.

" _Well, given the road trip and why everything's happening right now, I'm not really surprised. Lori really wants the girls and I to enjoy this trip, because this is probably going to be the last thing we enjoy for a long while…"_ He thinks, though he doesn't let his panicked thoughts surface, "What can I say, Lori really wanted to give us the chance to enjoy the rest of our summer, and stuff. So she called up our parents and asked if we could go on a road trip."

"And they said yes?" Ronnie Anne raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I know your parents aren't that over-protective and stuff, but still, it's pretty surprising to hear that they're ok with it all."

"Heh, well… sometimes they can even surprise us." The white-haired boy awkwardly rubs the back of his head, "But hey, they let us go, so why waste the chance to have some fun?"

Ronnie Anne shrugs in response, "Heh true. Why look a gift horse in the mouth after all." She shoves her hands in her jacket's pockets, "That just makes everything easier to enjoy."

"Yeah, lucky us." Lincoln quips.

"Yep." The young girl then looks around for a moment, "That reminds me, where are your sisters? Shouldn't they, ya know, be watching us to make sure we don't go too far?"

"Hopefully they're as far away from us as humanly possible." Lincoln shudders at the idea of his sisters trying to meddle in his love life again, "when they're around, well, the easy things become hard and the hard things become, well, complicated."

"Yeah, I know." She turns to look ahead, "But that's the joy of family, ain't it?"

"Yeah… the joy of family." Lincoln chooses to look down at the concrete ahead of him, his mind filling with the thoughts he had long hidden from all, _"Yeah… you love your family and yet, you don't trust them to take care of you when you're sick, what kind of brother are you? Not even giving a piece to your family! Why are you even going on?!"_

"Hey Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne raises an eyebrow in confusion, "You ok?"

" _Yeah… you just need to end it all! Why don't ya? After all, it'll be better if you finish yourself off so your sisters don't have to see your suffering!"_ More thoughts fill his mind, though a swift punch to the arm breaks him from his trance.

"Hey Lame-O! Wake up!" Ronnie Anne commands, punching his arm once more.

"Ow!" The boy rubs the aching spot, "What was that for?"

"You zoned out on me." The girl responds, tilting her head in concern as she does so, "What's going on with you, Linc? You're usually on top of everything."

Yet, in order to not cause any alarm, ,the young boy waves her off, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine! I'm just a bit… you know, distracted because I'm imagining all of my sisters watching us because they wanna see what happens!"

For a moment, Ronnie Anne stares at the boy, seemingly suspicious of his explanation. And yet, she simply shrugs, "Heh, well, I can't blame ya. After all, with a family as big as yours, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one or two of your sisters were watching us."

"Heh yeah." Lincoln chuckles, _"You can trust them with everything, except this, huh? What's wrong with you?!"_

"So Lame-O, what ride should we go on?" Ronnie Anne speaks up, pulling the young boy from his confused thoughts.

"Huh?" Lincoln snaps back to reality, darting his head around as he does so. The duo now stands in a small section of the park, with only a few rides to choose from, though most would cause a grown adult to puke at the mere idea of riding them- not that the youngsters care much.

"What do you wanna go on? Come on Lincoln, we didn't go to an amusement park to not get amused!" She can't help, but chuckle at her Luan-level pun.

" _Well ok then, let's pick something both of us can enjoy…"_ Lincoln quickly takes a deep breath, before checking the choices for a moment, "How about that one?" He suggest, pointing at a small ride with chairs spinning in the air. "That looks pretty fun."

Ronnie Anne rubs her chin for a moment, before shrugging, "All right then, I don't see why not!" And with that, the duo runs over to fall in line.

Nearby, of course, a certain band of women simply watch the scene unfold, no doubt excitement builds in their bodies.

"Aww, they look so cute together!" Leni cheers, hope filling her voice while her knees shake in excitement.

"Yeah!" Lola adds, before holding her arms together and squealing, "I can't believe it's happening so soon!" She rubs her chin, before phasing out, no doubt to daydream about the couple's future.

"Yo bros." Luna speaks up, "You sure it's a good idea to watch Linc? I mean, yeah, we wanna help him and all, but don't you think he deserves some privacy?"

"Nah!" Luan flares her arms in excitement, "Come on Luna, we all know that his sisters can only help things with her!" She then slams her hand against the musician's back while a bright smile forms on her face, "After all, it'll be a **family** of matters before anything bad happens!"

The girls groan in unison, before Luan pinches the bridge of her nose, "You know what…" She secures her guitar on her back and hops to her feet, "Girls, if we're gonna watch Lincoln go on a date, then how about we help him out? I mean he does help us with our things a lot!"

For a moment, the young woman talk amongst themselves, seemingly unsure if they should meddle in this affair- especially given the black eye that resulted from the last time they tried to help.

Yet, eventually, the young girls stop talking, allowing Lana to step forward and shrug, "Well, I don't see why not, I mean it could be hard getting it to work, especially with how awkward Lincoln is about this stuff." She then motions towards the horde of giggling sisters, "But hey, we can make it work, right?"

"Affirmative." Lisa steps towards her older sister's side, "There is plenty we can do to help out our brother." Though she also thinks, _"Plus, a distraction such as this should give our eldest sister enough time to 'break the news' as it were to Bobby."_

For a moment, Luna stares at her genius little sister, "You sure you wanna do this, sis? I mean, something like this isn't what you're used to…"

Lisa waves the young woman off, "Do not worry about my problems. I am more than capable of handling a little emotional attraction between two humans."

" _I legit have no idea what she's talking about."_ Luna takes a deep breath, before shaking her head, "Well then, I guess it's set… we're gonna help Lincoln woo Ronnie Anne." She glances at the girls for a moment, "Any questions?"

They remain silent.

"Good." She continues, before pulling them all into a circle, "This is what we're gonna do…"

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

"So, what'd ya think." Lincoln puts on a sheepish smile, eagerly waiting for his partner's answer.

Ronnie Anne hesitates for a moment, rubbing her chin as she does so, "Well, I dunno actually. This was fun and all, but I feel like this trip is missing something…"

"Oh?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "Like what? My sister's meddling in it all?"

"Well, yeah, actually." She shrugs, "Call me addicted, but I think I've gotten used to them getting in the way of everything. It makes spending time with you fun, ya know."

"Heh, true." The boy can't help, but smile at the idea of his sisters going out of their way to help him- even though it would cause a huge mess in the process. He shakes himself back to reality, "Anyways, how about we-"

"Incoming!" Lana shouts, before she tackles Ronnie Anne', forcing the older girl to fall right into Lincoln's waiting arms.

"What the heck?!" The Latino girl goes in confusion.

"Welp, it looks like my sisters have finally decided to start meddling!" Lincoln shouts, only for Luna to rush over and push the duo onto a nearby dolly.

"Don't mention it bro!" The musician shouts, before pulling back, allowing the next sister to come in.

Leni quickly grabs hold of the cart's handles and forces it upright, "Yeah! We just want our baby brother to have a fun time with a nice girl!" She then quickly wheels the duo over to the entrance to a new ride- this one decorated with countless hearts- before both she and Luna pick them up and secure them to the waiting cart."

"Guys!" Lincoln shouts in both confusion and fear, while Ronnie Anne remains quiet, seemingly enjoying the chaos the girls bring with them.

"You'll thank us for this later!" Lola declares, before jumping on the securing bar, forcing them to remain latched to the ride. "Good luck!" Then she quickly jumps off, before giving a thumb up to the sister waiting at the controls.

"Well this is just dandy." Lincoln quips, before leaning back in his chair.

"Have fun, elder brother." Lisa goes, before fiddling with the ride controls, prompting the cart to move into the tunnel.

Nearby, Luan continues to juggle, doing her best to distract the waiting patrons.

A few seconds pass with that, before Lincoln lets out a breath in defeat.

"Dangit." Lincoln leans back in his chair, _'On days like this, I regret teaching those girls how to convince anyone to do anything they wanted."_ He then turns to the young girl riding along side him, "Uhh, yeah… sorry about this…"

The Latino girl shrugs in response, "Ehh, it's all right, Lame-O." She chuckles, "Haha, nothing ever changes with those girls, huh? Your sisters are just as eager and fun-loving as I remember them."

" _Heh, I'll admit, they really do care and wouldn't change for the world."_ He smiles, before frowning once more, _"Though… would they change if they knew the truth?"_ The boy then looks back at his partner and smiles, "Well, what can I say? The girls never stopped loving shipping us together."

"They're like their own fandom, huh?" Ronnie Anne laughs, "Haha! Why am I not surprised?!" She then looks around for a moment, taking the chance to gaze upon the pink and red hearts, along with the cupid angels and scenes of lovers doing their best to express their truths, "You know Lincoln, this place is pretty cool. I'm not too disappointed they shoved us in here."

Lincoln looks around as well, though he doesn't really care much for the décor, _"Well… I'm sure Leni would appreciate this all."_ He shrugs, "Well, what can I say? My sisters have good taste."

"It's almost… romantic in here, huh?" The young girl continues, causing Lincoln's heart to begin to race.

He blushes, "Well, heh, yeah, I know, right?!" Though he can't help, but think again, _"Should I tell her the truth?"_

"Ya know, school's gonna start soon. We're not gonna be able to do something like this for a really long time." The young girl's voice trails off in disappointment.

" _Maybe even longer than that…"_ Lincoln thinks in response, _"I just wish the doc could told me more, rather than just said that he couldn't know…"_ He then takes a deep breath, mustering up the courage to ask, "So, how do you wanna make this more memorable?"

For a moment, Ronnie Anne hesitates, seemingly unsure of how to answer the question. Yet, eventually she blushes and starts running her hand through her hair, "Well, you know what they do on all those teen TV shows?"

"Heh, you mean pull something out of Lori and Bobby's playbook?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow in curiosity, eliciting a nod from the young girl.

"Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, right?" She asks.

"Don't you think that's a bit, sappy?" The boy tilts his head and blushes as well.

The girl throws her head back in amusement, "Of course it's sappy, Lame-O!" She punches his arm, "But I though you were a sap for sappy things."

Lincoln rubs the back of his head in response, "Well, you know me too well Ronnie Anne, I still am a sap for that stuff…" He then looks into her eyes, with the young girl doing the same, _"I can't tell her and I won't. She needs to feel happy, just like the girls."_ And before he knows it, he leans in, with the young girl doing the same in response.

Then, they place a soft kiss upon each other's lips.

A few minutes later, the duo emerges from the other end of the tunnel, still holding onto their kiss, much to the delight of the young women waiting just a few feet outside the opening, not that the two mind, of course… and they waste no time squealing with delight.

"Heh, nothing ever changes." Lincoln quips, while Ronnie Anne holds onto his hand as tightly as she can.

"Of course, things would get boring and frustrating if they didn't." The girl responds, a soft smile on her lips.

With that, the duo laughs, before they get out of the card- no doubt to enjoy the rest of their time at the park.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Bobby holds his aching head for a moment, unsure of just how to break the silence that had formed between both him and his girlfriend. Yet, eventually he finds just the right words, "I'm gonna be a dad?"

Lori meekly nods, silently praying that Bobby would not faint again from the shock.

"Ok…" the young man takes a deep breath, before throwing his arms around the young woman, pulling her into a soft embrace.

In an instant, all of the fears she had harbored about his reaction are put to rest, with her grabbing on and pulling him closer, "Bobby… I'm scared."

"I am too." He counters, "But don't worry, no matter what happens, we'll get through it together."

"T-thank you…" Lori whispers, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you so much Boo Boo Bear…"

"Got anymore bombshells you wanna drop on me now?" Bobby jokingly asks after that, rubbing the young woman's back as he does so."

" _Your little brother is sick…"_ She immediately thinks, before shaking her head, "No Boo Boo Bear, nothing at all…" Her voice trails off.

The young man hesitates for a moment, before simply smiling, "All right babe, all right…"

 _ **Later…**_

"Thanks for coming by, you two." Lori smiles at the Santiago siblings with a soft care in her eyes.

"No problem, babe." Bobby hugs the young woman once more. "Let's do this again sometime, ok?"

"I promise, we will." Lori breaks the embrace with a smile. "Summer may be ending, but we've got plenty left to do!"

A few away, Ronnie Anne playfully punches the lone boy of the Louds, "Heh, see ya 'round Lame-O." She chuckles, before hugging him as well.

"See you around too, Ronnie Anne." Lincoln returns the hug, before breaking it, allowing the young girl to turn and walk over to the car with her brother.

And with that, the Louds wave goodbye as they watch the car drive off into the sunset.

Without missing a beat, Lori then turns to face her family, "All right guys, back in the van!"

The young children quietly comply, with Lori following soon after. This time, Vanzilla is abuzz with the news of the day, while the air fills with excitement.

"So, where to next?" Lincoln asks, causing Lori to look up at the setting sun.

"I dunno… how about we go camping?" She turns to face them all, "I remember Camp Scratchy Bottom is around here."

A groan emanates from the siblings in response.

Yet, undeterred, Lori waves them off, "Come on guys, it'll be fun!" Before she puts the car in drive and heads off onto the sunset road as well.

20-8-5 13-15-14-15-4-25 19-8-1-12-12 7-21-9-4-5 25-15-21 1-14-4 20-8-5 13-5-13-15-18-9-5-19 23-9-12-12 14-5-22-5-18 3-8-1-14-7-5.

5-14-4 15-6 16-15-5-13 15-14-5

 **A/N Ahh camping, something the girls don't have that many fond memories of! Anyways guys, I hope you all enjoyed! Man, life and secrets just love coming by to make everything more complicated! Hey, at Lincoln's having a fun time, right?! Oh and then there's Lori's stuff too!**


	12. A Night Outdoors

**A/N Man, it's only been 2 weeks and I'm already back in the saddle with a fic. At the rate I'm going (And if the feeling I had when writing this is any indicator) I'm probably going to reach burnout soon. This chapter felt like I was banging my head against the wall. It doesn't help the Pokémon Ultra Sun And Moon came out too. I hope you enjoy it though!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Twelve: A Night Outdoors

"Lori, we're extremely disappointed in you!" Lynn Sr. crosses his arms while a furious expression overtakes his face, "We told you to bring everyone home as soon as you were done in Aloha Beach!"

"I'm sorry…" Lori responds, unable to look at her parents. She rubs her arm nervously, seemingly doing her best to calm the situation down, "But… I had a reason for it! I was-"

"Yes, we know." Rita cuts her off, "As for Lincoln being sick, if you really wanted to make him feel better or whatever, why didn't you bring him home?!" Rage begins to fill the woman's voice, "What if something happened to him? What if something happened to your sisters?! What would you have done then?"

Lori remains silent, unsure of how to respond to her parent's rage. And so, with a meek voice she responds, "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry isn't good enough." Lynn Sr. stares at his daughter, cutting through the soft cover the she had so carefully built over the years, "What you did put everyone in danger. I don't know what was going through your head hen you decided to do that, but all I can say is that you are grounded until your mother and I figure out how to punish your irresponsibility!"

"Oh, and I received a call from Bobby and Ronnie Anne's mother, why did you ask them to come visit you? Don't you know just how dangerous that is, and right after they came home from vacation?" Rita shakes her head in disappointment, "She said they came home more exhausted than ever!"

" _I can't tell them the truth, can I?"_ Lori shakes her head, "I'm sorry but-"

"But what?" her father cuts her off, "You wanna hide everything?" His voice fills with venom, "From what the girls told us, you never even told them why they were going camping or travelling in the first place! You wasted so much time and money and lied to your siblings for no good reason!"

" _But Lincoln is my reason…"_ Lori sighs, "Ok… I understand…" She tries to stand up for herself, and yet finds herself just looking down in shame, _"I'm the worst sister ever…"_

"Good, now-" Her parents continue, only for a soft voice to cut through her thoughts, "Lori! Wake up!"

"What?" The young woman looks up in confusion.

"Wake up!" The voice repeats, "You're driving you know!"

" _I… am?"_ Suddenly, the world around the young woman begins to melt away, causing her to shake her head to bring herself back to the true reality, "Huh? What happened?!"

"You spaced out, sis." Luna declares, shaking her head as she does so, "For a second there, we were worried that you were gonna crash the van or something." While she thinks, _"Now that I think of it, why is she acting so strangely? She always pays attention when she's around us..."_

"Oh, sorry…" She rubs the back of her head and puts a sheepish smile on in response, "I just kinda got carried away there and stuff."

Immediately, Lynn sticks her head forward, staring at her eldest sister with a judgmental gaze, "Oh really, what's going on with you then?"

"Nothing." Lori shakes her head, "I'm just thinking about what happened with Bobby today is all."

For a moment, the younger girl stares at her older sister with a judgmental gaze, seemingly begging her to reveal the truth, though eventually, she leans back, allowing her musical sister to ask, "Hey Lori, how are mom and dad doin'?"

"They're all right." Lori does her best to hide to fear filling her voice, "I managed to get in contact with that earlier, but because the place they're at has absolutely no reception, getting in touch with them won't be possible for a few more days, ok?" She glances back at her siblings, "So don't worry about them, ok?"

Lincoln and Lucy can both tell that she's lying.

"Hmm…" Luna rubs her chin while staring at her older sister, _"Some things just don't seem right around here…"_ She leans back in her seat, doing her best to hide her suspicions, _"But, it's not like I have much of choice than to just believe her."_ She then shrugs, "All right then, how about-"

"Whatever!" Lola cuts her sister off and leans forward, trying to get her driver's attention, "Lori! Why are we going camping anyway?! You know how much I hate it!" She flares her arms, seemingly attempting to emphasize her point.

"We're just gonna do it to have-" She tries to answer, though her scientist sister simply cuts her off as well.

"While I typically do not agree with my older sibling when it comes to matters of science and possibilities to create studies, I must concur that this does not seem like the most sound of ideas." She adjusts her glasses and shakes her head, trying to emphasize her point as well.

Lori raises an eyebrow in confusion, "Oh? And why do you say that?"

The young scientist motions towards her, "Well for one, you seem to be more exhausted than usual and two, your seemingly desperate condition warrants more comfortable accommodations for our slumber."

"I'm fine. Don't you worry guys." Lori chuckles, before turning back to the road, "Besides, why bother with all that stuff when we're already here?!" She turns the wheel and guides the family van off the highway, causing it to drive into the nearby forest.

A few minutes of searching later and the Louds find themselves parking Vanzilla at the edge of a small lake, its pure blue waters glistening in the sunlight, as if urging them to swim.

"And we're here!" Lori pulls the keys from the ignition, "Now it's time to camp!"

"Grr." Lola growls, crossing her arms as she does so, "I still don't get what's so fun about camping! You set up a tent and sleep on the ground for crying out loud!"

"Come on sis, don't be like that!" Lana chuckles, "I'm sure that after this, we're gonna do something even better!" She then turns her twin to face her, "Plus, while we're here we can-"

"Shit it Lana!" Lola pushes her away and shakes her head, "I don't wanna hear about all the stupid and disgusting stuff you wanna do while we're here!"

"Lola, play nice." Lori turns and hops out of the van, "We've got work to do, come on, I wanna get camp done by dark."

Lola growls in response, though Lori pays it no mind. And soon enough, the Loud Children are standing outside Vanzilla with their eldest member holding up a small list, "All right, Lola and Leni, I need you two to set up the tents."

"What?! Why?!" Lola flares her arms in anger, "Why do I have to-"

"Because you two are the only ones I know who won't accidently make them wrong. It's a pretty simple job really."

In a huff, Lola crosses her arms and scoffs at the idea, while Leni cheers, "Awesome! I like, will totes do it good!"

" _I'm counting on it."_ Lori mentally sighs, before continuing her list, "Lynn and Lana, I need you two to set up the fire pit and roll some logs over so we have stuff to sit on, ok?"

"You got it!" Lana quickly runs over to a seemingly random spot and begins to dig, while Lynn stares for a moment, before turning around and walking over to the nearby edge of the forest, no doubt to scout. Though, she doesn't enter it.

"Lisa, I need you to test the environment, ok." She continues, turning to her scientist sister as she does so, "I want to make sure that there are no toxins or dangerous pathogens around when we go to sleep here."

"Very well." Lisa nods, and returns to the car, "I'll get my equipment.

"I guess I'll care for Lily." Luan speaks up, holding the infant as she does so, "After all, this little sittin' baby needs a baby sitter!" She laughs, "Haha! Get it!"

Lori pinches the bridge of nose in response, "Yeah, I get it."

"All right, what do you want me to do, sis." Luna steps forward, strumming her guitar as she does so.

"Hmm…" Lori rubs her chin, before quickly answering, "Luna and Lucy, I need you two to make something for the campfire."

"Like what?" The musician tilts her head in confusion.

"Anything really, just make sure it's entertaining, ok?" the eldest sister shrugs, "Since we're staying here the night, it'll be more interesting if there's something other than talking and playing around to do."

"All right then!" Lucy excitedly clings to Lincoln, "And what do you want Lincoln to do?"

 _"Well, there really isn't much I left for him to do because… the reason… but… if I said there's nothing for him to do, then the girls are gonna be suspicious."_ She hesitates her answer for a moment, "Well, we need some firewood for the fire pit, so how about you go get some?"

Lincoln shrugs, "Sure, I guess that works out." He mentally sighs, _"Man… Lori really wants to make sure that we have fun camping…"_

"All right then!" Lucy comes as close as she can to the boy, "I'm gonna come with you ok? I-"

"Hold up." Luna steps over, "Lucy, if you don't mind, I'd like to go walk with Linc for a bit, ok?"

" _Wait… what?!"_ Lincoln's heart begins to race in surprise, "Uhh… why?"

Luna raises an eyebrow in confusion, "What? Ever since we came from Aloha beach, we really haven't spent that much time together, you know. Plus, Lucy hasn't really let go of ya too!"She puts on a warm, reassuring smile and begins to pluck her guitar's strings, "Along with that, I'm sure walkin' with you for a bit is gonna make it easier to write the song."

Immediately, the boy turns to Lori, silently begging her for her help. Sadly, however, Lori simply shrugs, "It's up to you Linc."

" _This isn't gonna end well, I just know it."_ For a moment, Lincoln's mind races searching for a possible solution to the situation he finds himself, the though eventually he sighs, "All right then… Luna, I'll walk with you."

"Heh, why does it look like that was so hard?" She chuckles, "Tryin' to hide somethin', bro?"

" _Yes."_ He shakes his head, "Nah, it's just… we've never really wrote a song together you know."

"Huh, really?" Luna scratches her head, before shrugging, "Well then I guess that changes today, if you don't mind of course." She squats down to his height, allowing her to look into his brown eyes, "If you'd rather just walk along through a dark forest, I'll let you."

" _Dangit Luna, why are you…"_ He shrugs, "Ehh sure, I don't mind." He nudges Lucy to let go of his arm, "Lucy, do you need my help writing a poem?"

Now, Lucy is great at a lot of things- including hiding her feelings. And just like she had done countless times prior, she finds herself simply nodding along in agreement, "Sure Lincoln, I don't mind at all, I'll just go find inspiration somewhere else, ok!"

" _Dangit…"_ the boy thinks, _"I really wanted you to say yes, that way I could just send you off and get some time to myself to think!"_ Though, he simply smiles, "All right then, but if you need my help later, I'll be all ears."

"Thanks…" The Goth girl responds, before turning and disappearing into the nearby shadows, leaving Luna and Lincoln alone to begin their trek.

"So, ready to go?" Luna asks with a soft voice.

" _It's not like I have much of a choice, now do I?"_ Lincoln sighs and nods, "Yeah, let's go."

And with that, the duo turns and heads into the forest quietly, while nearby Lucy's forcibly bright smile begins to fade into a pained frown, "Lincoln… I wish I could tell you the truth…"

"Hey Lucy! I need you help over here!" Lynn shouts, her voice cutting through the young Goth's thoughts, "This log is too for us alone!"

"Sigh, I guess it's better than nothing…" She begins to cry, though she immediately wipes the tears, "I'll just get my inspiration for work instead of walking…" And with that, she steps over to aid her sisters.

* * *

The soft sunset looms over the forest as the duo strolls along a trail, the young boy's eyes trained firmly at the ground as he searches, while the young woman focus on her instrument. For a moment, silence overtakes them, save for the rustling of the leaves beneath their feet.

" _I have to figure out what's going on with them…"_ Luna thinks, her soft gaze falling upon her uncharacteristically quiet brother, "So, Lincoln, what's up?"

"What do you mean?" The young boy leans down and grabs a small twig off the forest ground.

"Nothing much." She shrugs, before rubbing the back of her head, seemingly truing to lighten the mood, "It's just that, ever since you left the hospital, you and Lori haven't really told us anything." She then looks back at him, concern filling her expression, "And then, Lucy started going all smiler and stuff and… it's concerning to say the least."

Lincoln hesitates his answer, _"I can't let Luna find out… But if I'm not careful, she's gonna start noticing more and more stuff!"_ He shrugs, "Ehh, I don't think there's anything to worry about. I mean, I'm fine. The doctor just told me I was tired is all." He waves her off.

"Even then, people don't just faint randomly you know."

"Yeah, I do." He chuckles, "That's why they wanted me to stay for a day, remember!" he flares his arms. _"Remember Lincoln, Luna doesn't know the truth and if what Lori told me is true, she's not gonna find out until the time is just right for everyone to find out."_

"You sure?" Luna looks at her brother in concern, "Please Lincoln, you know I love you, right? I wanna make sure that you're gonna be fine."

"Yeah, I'm going to be, I'm going to be." He waves her off again, a soft smile on his face, "Now, come on, we've got a song to make, don't we?"

" _Idea!"_ An interesting thought comes to her mind, allowing a sinister smile to overtake her visage, "Is this about Ronnie Anne?"

Instantly, Lincoln's face goes red in embarrassment, "What? No! I uhh… why would se be involved in anything?!"

"Or did you just meet a nice girl while you were in the hospital?" She teases him, running her hand through his head as she does so.

The boy's silence and ever-growing blush are the only answers the young woman needs, "Aww, you really did meet someone!" She squats down to his height, seemingly trying to put him at ease, "What was she like? Was she nice? Cool? Are we ever gonna meet her?"

"Well, I uhh…" Lincoln stammers, "She was nice and I uhh… well, her name was Sambell…" he looks up into Luna's eyes, "She was cool, but she's no where near as cool as Ronnie Anne is!"

"Heh, gotcha." Luna quips, a soft smile overtaking her once more.

Her younger brother face palms at the realization, _"Dangit… since when has Luna been able to get me to do that?!"_

The young woman then stands up straight and begins to strum away at her guitar, "Suddenly, I know exactly what type of song we can make."

Now, whenever Luna would write a song, Lincoln would normally find himself excited- after all, with her diverse talent, she could write anything from a hard rock song to something with a more classical feel. And yet, without a single word, he already knows what to expect from her, "It's a love song, isn't it."

"You got it bro." The young woman chuckles, "All we gotta do is see where we can go with one."

Lincoln pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, "If I write a love song with you, will you please not tell them about Ronnie Anne or Sambell?" His voice fills with desperation; "I don't wanna be teased about them anymore…"

"Bro, we're your sisters." She gives him a warm hug, "We'll always tease you, but we mean well about it." She then chuckles, "Besides, coming out of the tunnel of love while kissing her didn't help."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" He chuckles, _"I'll admit though, I think that was all worth it."_

"I know." She rubs his head again, "Now, how about you talk about that girl at the hospital? I don't remember seeing her around."

"That's because she wasn't really around…" he answers, _"As much as Luna likes to stay calm, cool and collected, she always knows how to pull the rug out from under me."_ He then looks up at the sunset sky, "The only reason we even met is because she decided to get out of her hospital room for a bit and run over to meet me… I think she was interested because we both had white hair or something."

"How was she like?" Luna asks, looking down at her guitar as she does so.

"Nice I guess." The boy then looks down, before walking over and taking a seat against a nearby boulder, "She was in the hospital because she needed to get her head examined so… yeah."

"Well, did she tell you anything else?" The young woman looks at her brother in curiosity.

"All I know is, she had a small family, so seeing you guys made her even more interested.

Luna chuckles, "Heh, that's normal." Before she begins to strum along, creating a small beat for her to follow, "How about Ronnie Anne?"

"What do you mean? You've met her before, you know." Lincoln scratches his head.

The young woman shrugs, "Yeah, I have, but as the saying goes, 'sometimes the truth is hidden behind a mask'. She probably acts different around you, right?"

Lincoln looks away and begins to blush, a soft smile overtaking him as he does so, "Well… I guess she does, in public she's a tough bully… but when we're alone… well, she's amazing."

"Hmm, I think that can work." Luna begins to carefully strum her guitar's strings, creating a soft, yet oddly calming melody. "A four and a one and a three…"

The young boy simply watches intently as his sister continues, her hands moving along the instrument with the skill she had spent the last few years of her life honing so carefully, before she begins to sing, "You're like a book waiting to open for the right hand, with a heart and soul that many would never see… I want you to open your secrets to me…"

"A bit… cliché, don't you think?" Lincoln raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I mean, if I didn't know any better, I'm sure that someone would mistake it for some random pop song."

"Heh, I'm not gonna argue with that, bro." She chuckles and continues strumming along, doing her best to keep the beat she had so carefully created, "But, remember, despite what all writing guides will say, it's not always a bad idea to use clichés."

Lincoln simply watches intently, unsure of how to respond to his sister.

And so, the young woman continues, "Sometimes, the cliché stuff makes the unique stuff easier to come up with and notice."

"That sounds… strange I guess." The boy shrugs.

"Life is strange." Luna shakes her head, "Now then, how about you try, just follow the beat and try to put words to it."

" _Well… I guess it couldn't hurt."_ He thinks for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "All right," He takes a moment to gather his thoughts, before he sings, "You're the love in my heart, you're the feeling in my veins, will you bring me into the world you've made? Please give me the parts to make me whole and fill me with your love…" His voice trails off unsurely.

And taking note of this fear, Luna quickly speaks up, "That sounded nice, bro." She places a hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile, "Yeah, it's a little rough, but I'm sure that you'll be able to get it right if we keep working on it."

"Really?" He looks up at his sister in disbelief

Luna nods, "Yeah, after all, nothing great was only written in a day." She chuckles, "Now, how about we get some firewood? It'll be easier to inspire yourself if you take breaks." She then looks into his eyes, "Plus, sometimes a vacation is more useful than you think."

" _Huh… I guess that can work…"_ He chuckles, "Sure, and what do you mean by that?"

Quickly, Luna waves him off, "Never mind, I'm just saying random things and stuff."

"Ok…" Lincoln rubs the back of his head, "Thanks for coming with. I've been feelin' a bit down cause summer's ending and stuff and you've just got me back up and stuff."

" _So that's what's going on. Lincoln's just feelin' down cause of that."_ The young woman breathes a mental sigh of relief, before standing up straight." No problem." And with that, they go to get the wood they need.

Though, after everything that happened, Lincoln can't help but still think, _"I wonder if Luna's right about that… nah, Lori's still right. Just enjoy this vacation and then I'll tell everyone the truth… even Luna…"_

 _ **Later…**_

"Lori!" Lola's voice grates against her older sister's ears, "Ugh! Why did we have to go camping out here?! Because of you my dress is ruined!"

For a moment, Lori stares at her younger sister, "Lola." She pinches the bridge of her nose, "We told you not to come here in your favorite pageant gown. It's your own fault that it's getting so dirty."

In a huff, Lola turns around and stomps back to the car, "I hate camping!"

" _Can anything go right for one?"_ Lori pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, only for her little sister to say, "Like, this is totes too hard…" She sorrowfully stares at the tent she had successfully put up. From what Lori can see, it's well done, with even the minutest details taken into account.

"Uhh, Leni, what's wrong with it?" Lori looks on in confusion, _"This is probably gonna be something she…"_

"I don't know where to put the beds…" Leni's voice trails off painfully. "I like, set them up, but there's just not enough fabric to let me put a bed into it for the night.

"Leni, it's a tent, we'll just use-" Yet, before she can even finish her sentence, Luan cuts in.

The young comedian flares her arms, trying to get the attention of the easily distracted Leni, "We're gonna get close to the earth tonight!"

Now, normally, one would expect Leni to be oblivious to what something like that means, and yet, it only takes her a moment to put two and two together, "Eww! We're gonna sleep on the ground?! That's totes gross!" She holds her hands up defensively, "There are spiders there!"

" _Great job Luan."_ Lori pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Girls! Calm down!"

Though, much to her dismay, her family's typical chaos is easily able to override her power, _"Dangit…"_

Luckily for her, two of her siblings return, allowing her an opening to break through, "Hey Lincoln, Luna, you're back!" She chuckles, "How'd it go?"

Luna smiles and rubs Lincoln's head, "It went great, sis. Lincoln managed to get all the wood we need and thanks to him, I was ale to get the song done!"

"Great!" Lori motions for Lincoln to place the fuel in the pit, _"At least something is going right around here… I think."_ She mentally sighs, while Lincoln places the fuel in the pit.

And within moments, the Louds are gathered around, simply lounging around on the downed logs Lynn and Lana had rolled into place.

"I still don't know why you wanna do something as icky as camp!" Lola crosses her arms in frustration. "Last year we had to fight over where to go besides coming here!"

"Come on, don't be like that!" Her twin nudges her. "Going out like here isn't so bad you know. It's nice to have the wind in your hair and smell the freshness of it all." She takes in a deep breath and smiles, "Plus, it helps that everything here is just so nice!"

"Yeah." Lori assures, "We're just gonna spend the night here, so how about we enjoy it before we hit the road?"

Silence overtakes the Louds with that, only for Lynn to break the silence by snapping her fingers, "I know what to do!"

Instantly, the siblings' eyes fall upon her, not that she minds though, "Let's tell spooky stories!"

Suddenly, Lucy's eyes light up, before she turns to Lincoln, though he doesn't notice.

Without even waiting for her siblings' response, Lynn continues, "Deep in the clouded records of history lies a place, a dark factor that few have seen." She smiles, adding a sadistic grin as she does so, "Here, the souls of the corrupt are ground up to create power for its city!"

"Sounds interesting." Lucy chuckles, to no one's surprise. She always enjoyed the more dark stuff her siblings can come up with.

"Yeah." Lori shrugs, "But, how about we have some music instead?" She looks to her sister, "Luna?"

Without hesitation, she begins to strum along, "With pleasure sis." She turns towards her little brother, "Let's sing the song we wrote."

For a moment, Lincoln seems to freeze up, seemingly unsure if he should. Though, after just a little more prodding from Luna and Lori, he sighs, "All right, but it's just a first draft, ok?"

The sisters simply shrug in response, eagerly awaiting him to begin.

And so, Lincoln takes a deep breath and begins to sing, "Some day, the truth will come! And soon, you'll tell me you love me…" His voice trails off for a moment, before picking up once more, "Going back to the beginning, I never thought I'd get a girl like you! Ooo-Ooo!" Lincoln then chuckles, before looking back at his sisters, "So, what do you think?"

For a moment, the girls talk amongst themselves, before Leni quips, "I think that was great Linc!"

Though, given the rather silent responses from the rest of the girls, Lincoln is unsure if he should believe her words.

*Yawn* Lori holds her arms up in exhaustion, "Anyways, girls, we head in the morning, ok?" She hops to her feet and tries to walk away… only for Lisa to ask her, "Hey, where are we going tomorrow?"

" _Dangit, I haven't though about that yet…"_ Lori shrugs, "How about we come up with a place in the morning?" She looks back at her siblings. "After all, this is your vacation. First person to tell me where to go wins." And with that, she walks away, leaving her siblings to whatever task they wished to undertake… though they simply follow as well.

 _ **A Few Hours Later…**_

*Sniffle* A soft cry echoes through the campsite. Though, given the conditions under which the Louds routinely sleep, it does not phase them…

Well, save for one.

" _Who could that be?"_ Lincoln stares up at the sky above through the translucent fabric of his tent, _"Probably Lori, I guess… but, why? Everything is going to be fine, right?"_

*Sniffle*

" _I'm not gonna get any sleep unless I find out what's going on, aren't I?_ He sighs in defeat, before hopping to his feet and stepping out of his tent.

*Sniffle*

" _Now, where's that coming from?" The young boy takes a moment to search the grounds. From what he can see, the once bright fire pit that had illuminated their campsite had died out, leaving nothing but cinders in its wake. The forest seems to creep up on them, while also giving them a cover from the outside world. Slowly, the young boy's eyes fall upon the lake, a dark figure weeping at its edge._

" _Lucy?" Lincoln approaches the young girl, "What are you still doing up, and why are you crying?"_

For a moment, Lucy considers admitting the truth- that she knows why they're going on this trip. And yet, she finds herself unable to muster the courage to do so.

Instead, she simply smiles and responds, "It's nothing Lincoln." She adverts her gaze, "It's just the anniversary of Edwin's death and he asked that I mourn him…"

For a moment, Lincoln hesitates; after all, it would be easier to do so! And yet, he finds himself wrapping his arms around her, pulling the young girl into a soft embrace, "Lucy, I know you're lying."

The young Goth remains silent.

"I know how much you don't like hugs." He continues, "So I'm not going to let you go until you tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing, really." She pushes against him, doing her best to look him in the eyes as she does so. "I'm fine-"

Yet, Rather than answer, the young boy chooses instead to stare passed her bangs and into the soft blue eyes she has hidden for so long. "Lucy, please, tell me the truth."

" _I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"_ The young girl hesitates for a moment, her mind rushing through any and all possibilities, though it always seems to end on the same one, "Lincoln… I know the truth…"

"What?" Suddenly, Lincoln finds his heart racing. _"Did Lori tell her? She said that we would wait a bit! We-"_

Thankfully, the young girl continues, "Back at the hospital, I snuck into the vents and heard what the doctor said about you." Her voice begins to fill with pain, "How your body… is attacking itself. How you don't-"

Lincoln tights his grip on Lucy, urging her to quiet down, "Don't worry Lucy, please don't-"

Yet, before he can finish, the young girl breaks free of his grip and runs off, no doubt to mourn somewhere else.

" _I have to help her…"_ Lincoln thinks for a moment, _"But how_ before an idea comes to him and he runs off… not noticing the young woman nearby.

"Lincoln…" She whispers, a confused and concerned gaze falling upon her guitar.

 _ **The Next Day…**_

"A poetry club?" Lori tilts her head in confusion, "Uhh, why would you wanna go to one?"

Lincoln rubs the back of his head in response, "Well… Lucy knows and I wanna help her get through this…"

"Wait… Lucy knows?!" Lori's eyes go wide in shock. "I thought."

Yet, the young boy holds his hand up, urging her to calm down, "She was in the vent, that's why she found out."

"Oh." Lori takes a deep breath to calm down, "All right then, I guess a poetry club can work…"

"Great." Lincoln smiles, "Thanks Lori."

"No problem." The young woman rolls up her sleeping bag with that, "Go get the other girls ok? We're gonna have to hurry if we wanna beat the rush."

And with that, the boy nods, before stepping out of her tent.

11-14-15-23-12-5-4-7-5 9-19 16-15-23-5-18, 2-21-20 9-19 9-20 23-15-18-20-8 20-8-5 3-15-19-20?

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! I'll be working on this fic from now on! See you in about 2 weeks, (And I mean it this time).**


	13. Words Of The Soul

**A/N A promise is a promise guys, and I made sure to keep this one. Man, finals hit me like a runaway dump truck, but I managed! I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! Merry Christmas!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Thirteen: Words Of The Soul

With the first task of the day complete, Lincoln takes a deep breath, _"All right… Lori's gonna make sure that we get to go to a poetry club today."_ His chest begins to ache, causing him to hold his hand over it, hoping to quell the pain. Much to his relief, however, the moment passes quickly, _"I was worried someone would find out before… everything was done…"_

Suddenly, the realization falls upon him, _"Wait… if Lucy knows, then who else could too?!"_ His mind starts to race, jumping from possibility to possibility, _"The girls care about me, I know… but they'd over react! And from what the doctor sounded like… them overreacting isn't going to help me get better!"_

Slowly, his mind calms down, allowing him to take another deep breath, _"But… maybe if they knew, then Lisa would be able to find a cure or something, maybe even figure out what caused this…"_

"Yo Linc." Luna steps forward, a soft smile on her face, "What's goin' on bro?"

Instantly, the young boy snaps back to reality, "Huh? Oh, hey Luna, what's up?"

"Nothing much." She chuckles and continues in a nonchalant, though ever-so-slightly-suspicious, voice, "Though, it looks like something's bugging you."

Instinctually, Lincoln waves her off, "Nah, I'm all right." He gives her a soft, sincere smile, "I'm just trying to think of what to do at our next stop, you know?"

Luna raises an eyebrow in interest, "Oh? Where are we going next?"

"I just talked to Lori about it." He pulls out his phone and scrolls over to a map, "There's a town nearby with a poetry club, I wanna take Lucy to it."

"Huh, ok then." Luna shrugs, "I would've preferred something that would've been less dreary, but hey, a poetry club works out I guess." She rubs his head affectionately, "Are you gonna read her a poem or something?"

" _Now that I think of it, I never did think about what I would do with her there…"_ The boy rubs his chin in contemplation, "Hmm… now that you mention it, Luna, I think that's a great idea! It could make the visit all the more memorable!"

The young woman chuckles, "Heh, the man with a plan forgot to make a plan for once."

Lincoln's face goes red in embarrassment, "What? I'm on vacation you know!"

"Don't sweat it bro." She chuckles again, "By the way, speaking of Lucy, why was she crying last night? I was gonna talk to her about it, but I saw you already had everything handled and stuff."

The boy's heart drops, _"N-no… does that she mean she overheard what we were talking about?"_ The boy's heart race at the prospect of yet another one of his sisters knowing. Though, he could feel a part of him breath in relief.

"I didn't hear you guys though…" Luna looks away, _"Yeah… all I heard was that Lucy was crying because of Lincoln's body is attacking itself or something…"_

" _Good… she doesn't know."_ Lincoln does his best to put up a calm façade, "Ehh, it was nothing, really."

Luna raises an eyebrow in interest, "Oh? Well then what was it about?"

"She just told me that she was mourning Edwin's death and stuff. You know, her, miss dark and gloomy and into vampires!" His voice speeds up, seemingly trying to get through the sentence as quickly as possible.

" _That's his tell… he's lying."_ The young woman has lived with Lincoln long enough to know all the tricks he'd try to pull when he would try to hide something. Yet, unwilling to make her brother more nervous than he already appears to be, Luna simply squats down to his height and places a soft hand on his shoulder, "All right Lincoln… you know, if there's anything you need to talk about, I'm here for ya."

"Thanks Luna." He pushes her hand off and steps passed her, "I'm gonna have to go get the others and stuff, Lori wants everyone outside so she can give us today's itinerary."

"All right." The young woman nods, before standing up straight and walking over to Vanzilla, allowing Lincoln to enter the other tents and begin calling the rest of the Louds together.

" _Maybe going on this trip wasn't a good idea after all…"_

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

"All right, is everyone out?" Lori steps out from her tent, allowing nine of her siblings to come into view.

From what she can see, her siblings are exhausted, with even Lola sporting bags of exhaustion under her eyes- no doubt the prospect of having to sleep on the ground was more than enough to keep her up. Thankfully, however, the others remain in relatively calm condition.

Quickly, Lincoln counts, only to come up short, "Nope, Lucy's not here."

"Well, where is she? We're supposed to hit the road early so that we can beat the traffic!"

"Lori!" Leni gasps in surprise, "What did the road ever do to us?! Why do you wanna hit it?!"

Immediately, Lori pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Leni, it's a figure of speech."

"Really? You got a figure of speech?!" Suddenly, the young woman holds her hands close, ready to cheer… for some strange reason.

Unwilling to let Leni's naïveté get to her, she simply takes a deep breath, "All right then, I guess we'll just have to start the meeting without her."

Lincoln raises his hand with that, "Uhh, Lori, why don't I go out to get her? I mean, I think I remember seeing her run into the woods to write or something."

She considers the idea for a moment, before simply waving him off, "Fine, I'll just get this over with. We'll leave in five minutes, all right?"

The lone boy nods, "All right then." Before he bolts away from the crowd and runs into the forest in search of his little sister.

Lori makes sure to watch him as he goes, before turning back to the rest of their sisters, "As for the rest of you, we're going to spend today-"

"Lori!" Lola cuts her eldest sister off, "This is the worst vacation ever! My dress is filthy and I had to sleep with miss mud-for-brains while she rolled around like a pig!"

"Hey! It kept me warm!" Lana counters, flaring her arms as she did so, "Besides, that's the same mud they use when you get a spa treatment!"

Lola scoffs at her twin, "No it's not! It's clean, made with clean water instead of whatever yours is made of!"

Lana tries to counter, though Luna shoving her hand over her mouth cuts the young one off. "Now's not the time to argue, loves." She shakes her head and looks back to Lori, "Continue."

The young woman nods, "Anyways, we leave soon, so just pack up and get into Vanzilla, ok?"

The girls chat amongst themselves for a moment, before breaking up to do so, leaving Lori alone in front of the van, _"Good… that went as well as I thought it would."_ She sighs, _"Now I just hope whatever Lincoln has planned to keep Lucy quiet will work… Man, keeping so many secrets isn't going to be healthy, especially when we get home…"_

She hesitates for a moment, _"Now that I think of it… I really haven't been thinking about the future. Then again, I don't think anyone could blame me."_ She takes a deep breath and turns, reentering her tent moments after. Thankfully, she made sure to keep herself packed up, so she simply has to grab her suitcase and pull it out, _"But… I'm gonna be a mom now, and Lincoln… we don't even know how to take care of him…"_

Lori shoves her suitcase in the van's already crammed trunk, _"Maybe… maybe it's time I tell someone else… someone who can do something to help."_ She mentally kicks herself, _"Why does this feel like such a bad idea?"_

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Lucy!" Lincoln holds his hands in front of him, calling for his sister, _"I just gotta find Lucy..."_ he pushes his way through a small bush, _"But, where could she be hiding? It's not like her to go away without telling us where to find her..."_

His gaze softens, _"Then again, if I were going into the woods to cry, I doubt I'd tell anyone else either..."_

Soon, the forest's silence begins to overtake him, welcoming his exhausted body with open arms, as well as allowing his mind to wander once more. _"I wonder what mom and dad are doing right now... Lori's been lying about talking to them for a while now, so what could they be doing?"_ For a moment, he imagines those two surfing on the beaches of whatever sea resort they decided to spend their honeymoon on or riding down the mountain at some ski resort upstate. Though eventually, he purges those ideas from his mind, _"Nah, I'm sure that whatever they're doing is important and they're just busy is all."_

*Sniffle* a soft cry echoes through the quiet woods, bringing the young boy back to reality. _"Was that Lucy"_

*Sniffle* it echoes again.

Carefully, Lincoln follows the source, desperate to make sure that he would remain undetected.

*Sniffle*

Slowly, the young boy parts a small bush, allowing him to gaze into a small clearing. From what he can tell, there is nothing out of the ordinary present, save for the young girl propped up against one of the tree bases, her notebook resting firmly in her lap.

*Sniffle* Lucy goes, causing saw tears to stream down her cheeks and land in her book, staining the page she seemed to be writing on- though Lincoln can tell that she had not written a single word.

The young boy mentally kicks himself again _. "Lucy... this is all my fault..."_ he clenches his fists.

Ever since they were young, Lucy would come to him whenever she had a problem- of course, most of the time it would be simple, maybe she needed a rhyme for a random word or wanted his opinion on her latest work. And of course, he would have an easy time helping her out.

Yet, for the first time in years, he finds himself unable to come up with a solution to appease her fears, _"Why is this happening?"_ His mind races for a solution, though finds none. For a moment, he considers lashing out at a nearby tree- release some of the frustration he had long-since pent up. And yet, he simply takes a breath, _"Don't worry... Lucy will feel better after we go to the poetry club, I know it."_ Then, without a second thought, he pushes through the leaves and approaches his sister, "Hey Lucy."

Immediately, the young girl wipes her tears and shuts her notebook, "Hey Lincoln, what's up?"

 _"Now's not the time..._ " he thinks, though he still asks, "Are you ok?"

The young girl nods, "Yep! Never better!"

Lincoln's heart sinks, "Ok... just came to tell you that everyone's getting ready to go, ok?"

The Goth Girl nods, "All right then! I'll get back to camp soon! I'll just go finish this poem, ok?"

The young boy considers asking her to tell him the poem- after all, it's the first time in the past few days that she has actually written one. And yet, he finds himself nodding along and turning away, "All right. If you need help, just ask, ok?"

"You got it!" She cheerfully responds, before Lincoln gives her one last concerned expression and walks away, leaving her alone to mourn.

 _ **Later...**_

Eventually, the Loud Family's van rolls into a small town. From what they can see, it's not too different from Royal Woods- though the houses seem to be of a more varied design.

And of course, Vanzilla is filled with the combined noise generated by eleven Loud siblings.

"I can't wait to find the mall!" Leni cheers, "I like, will totes find something nice to wear here!"

"Meanwhile, I need to go find a place that'll clean my pageant dress." Lola holds her favorite garment in one of the spare garbage bags the Louds kept.

More chatter fills the vehicle for a moment, before someone finally asks, "Hey Lincoln, what are you planning on doing when we stop?"

"I'm gonna go visit a poetry club with Lucy." The young boy looms behind him, only to find his younger sister had not even reacted to the revelation.

"Uhh… why's that bro?" Luna raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I mean, no offense but…" She rubs the back of her head.

Yet, unwilling to tell her the truth- at least not yet- he smiles, "Oh, no reason. I just wanna spend some time with Lucy, you know."

"Well then, make sure not to make too much music!" Luan throws her head back in laughter.

"Uhh Luan, that pun made literally no sense." Lori looks behind and tilts her head in confusion, "What were you trying to-"

"Haha." She continues to chuckle, "Oh well then, I guess it's **time** has passed!"

Instead of attempting to understand Luan's puns, Lori simply groans, "Whatever Luan… we're here by the way." She then pulls Vanzilla up to an open parking space in the middle of the town square.

Quickly, the Louds disembark, with Lori lining them up immediately after.

"All right everyone, we're spending the whole day here, so go have fun." She quickly checks her watch, "We're gonna meet back at this poetry club in about six hours, ok?" She then motions towards a nearby building.

A few minutes of chattering later and the Louds break off to have their own little adventures- just as one would expect when it came to summer vacation.

" _Hmm… now what to do…"_ Lisa rubs her chin in thought, _"I suppose I can try to conduct an experiment, but what could I-"_

'Hey Lisa, I wanna talk to you for a sec." Lori grabs onto her little sister's shoulder and turns her to face her, "It's really important."

The young girl raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh? Care to tell me about what it is?"

Carefully, the young woman darts her eyes from side-to-side, hoping that their siblings would not notice, "It's about me being you-know-what."

"I see." Lisa adjusts her glasses, "Well, I was hoping to attempt to do some experiments today, but I suppose I can help you with whatever you are worried about."

"Thanks." Lori wraps an arm around her little sister, before tugging her along, "I remember seeing a café around here. I'm sure we'll be able to get some privacy there."

"Understood." The young scientist responds, before walking along with Lori, leaving the rest of the sisters around to go on their own ways.

"Lucy!" Lynn walks through the crowd and grabs onto her little sister.

"Yes?" The young girl turns to face her.

The sporty girl continues, "I need your help." She looks passed her, at their eldest sister, "I want to-"

"Actually Lynn." Lincoln grabs Lucy's free arm, "I've called her for the day."

Lynn looks on in confusion for a moment, only for Lincoln to pull Lucy free of her grip and run away before she can react.

The young athlete grimaces for a moment, before walking away to find a new partner, _"Dangit! Now how am I supposed to follow those two?!"_

Lastly, a certain musician takes notice of the scene and walks away, making sure to follow a certain two of her siblings.

* * *

"It seems that the coast is clear, Lori." Lisa takes a sip of the orange juice that she had been provided, though she refused to acknowledge as such. "I believe that it is time you begin to explain why you have decided to call me here."

For a moment, Lori remains silent, her mind moving through the numerous ideas and explanations she could give- though only two of them are the true reason, "Lisa, I need your help."

The young girl looks up at her elder sister in curiosity, "Oh? You're worried about carrying the fetus to full-term?"

Lori nods, 'Yeah, you were right…" She sighs, "I want your help… you know… taking care of everything and stuff."

"I see…" Lisa rubs her chin for a moment, before simply shrugging along, "Well then, I do not see why there is an issue…" She takes a moment to think. _"Wait… Lori never asks for help, unless it involves something so important that it requires more than just her…"_ The young scientist looks into the young woman's eyes, "Lori, why are you asking for my help?"

" _I have to tell her… She probably knows more about what's going on with Lincoln than anyone else…"_ Her heart begins to race, _"But… I promised Lincoln, and Lucy already knows… is it really going to be a good idea to make even more sisters get involved with our little problem?"_

Lisa sits back in her chair and crosses her arms, "Very well then, I will not provide my support if you do not explain the circumstances for why."

"Look like I don't have much of a choice now do I?" The eldest sister shakes her head in defeat, "Lisa… if I were just pregnant, then I doubt I'd need some help…" She sighs, "But… it's about Lincoln."

"I see, and this has something to do with his hospital visit, does it not?" Lisa loosens up ever so slightly.

"As sharp as ever, Lisa." In response, Lori leans back in her chair as well, doing her best to maintain the illusion of control she had set up for herself, "Back at the hospital… the doctors told us that, well, Lincoln's body is attacking itself." She rubs the back of her head.

The young scientist rubs her chin, "Is there anything else you can tell me? Maybe what exact disease is causing his condition?"

" _I guess there's no turning back anymore. Lisa's involved now… I'm sorry Lincoln."_ Lori kicks herself at the idea of having more sisters involved, but feels that she has no choice, _"I can't let Lincoln go on alone…"_ And so she answers, "According to the doctors, Lincoln has Systemic Lupus Something, I can't remember the last word…" Lori can't help, but kick herself, _"Dangit, your brother's sick and you can't even be bothered to remember the disease that's causing it?!"_

"Hmm, Lupus huh? I may not have studied disease and human biology, but I do know that, that is an auto-immune disease." Lisa considers explaining exactly what that is for a moment, though decides against it after assuming that the doctors had already explained it to them.

"Look… I promised not to tell anyone else, but I really need your help Lisa." Lori looks away in shame, "I wanted to take Lincoln on this trip because… I'm worried that it'll be the last one he can go on, you know. And then when you told me that I'm… you know, well, I guess I just couldn't handle it anymore."

Now, Lisa typically remained emotionless. After all, things such as that have no place in science! And yet, when it comes to family matters, she finds herself taking Lori's hand in her own and giving her a soft, reassuring smile, "Elder sister, do not worry." She then pulls out a small notepad, "I will begin studying the required subject matter."

Lori cracks a smile, _"Lisa's always so adorable when she shows emotion… I wish she did it more often."_ Lori wraps her arms around her younger sister, "Thanks Lisa, you're the best."

"Of course I am, I do not have several doctorates for no reason." Lisa quells a chuckle, before readjusting your glasses, "Now, is there anything else you would like to talk about?"

" _Well… it couldn't hurt."_ Lori looks away and rubs her arm, "Well… how about we talk about pre-natal care? While we're on this trip, we might as well get what we need, you know…" Though, she can't help, but think, _"I wonder what he's doing right now…"_

"That is easy. All we need for the time being is an increased supply of feminine hygiene products, to match up with the demand that a growing fetus will require." Lisa quickly scribbles what they would need, before hopping to her feet.

Lori follows suit and stands up, "How about for Lincoln's… condition? The doctor gave him meds to hold the big symptoms at bay and to stop the seizures."

The young scientist rubs her chin in contemplation, "Hmm, as much as I would like to try and suggest treatment options, I believe that since Lincoln currently seems stable enough, let us not risk it." She then turns around and begins to walk away, "However, nothing's stopping me from doing what I can."

" _Thank you, Lisa…"_ Lori takes a deep breath, "All right then." Before she walks along, following in her younger sister's footsteps and heading out of the café.

Nearby, two young girls watch them, the older of the two focused squarely on her elder sister. "There you two are."

"Ugh, Lynn!" Lana flares her arms to emphasize her point, "I just wanted to play in the park! Why are we following Lisa and Lori around?!"

Lynn glares at her little sister for a short moment, before turning back towards her targets, "Lori's hiding a lot of things and I wanna find out what."

"Come on, she's not hiding anything from us!" Lana waves her off, a frustrated frown forming on her face, "She tells us everything!"

"Oh really?" Lynn crosses her arms in frustration, "Did she tell you that she's pregnant?"

Lana's eyes light up, "What?! Lori's having a baby?!" She jumps up and grabs onto the sporty teen's shirt, "Tell me everything!"

Yet, instead of responding, Lynn pushes her away, "No, I'll tell you later!"

"But, why?!" the young plumber's expression turns downcast.

"Because we have to follow them!" Quickly, she breaks from the cover she had so carefully chosen and gives chase to the duo, silently hoping that they would not spot her before she would be able to find a new hiding place, _"Thank goodness Lucy does this all the time or else I'd never have learned to sneak like this!"_

As for her companion, she thinks, _"What's going on with these guys? They're all acting so strangely!"_ before giving chase. _"Oh well, looks like that only way to find out is to follow em!"_

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Welcome to the poetry club, Lucy." Lincoln pushes the doors aside allowing the club to come into view. To many, it looks like nothing more than a typical café, save for the small stage attached to the back wall. And yet, to Lucy, a place such as this is like a second home.

The room is dark, with the walls pained black in an attempt to hide the light red brick that made them up. As for the sources of light, those as the open candles resting upon the each of them covered tables, giving the room a soft, Gothic feel.

"I love it here. I feel home already." Lucy clings to the young boy's arm just as she had done several times before. "Though… you still haven't told me why we're here, ya know." She does her best to maintain her joy-filled demeanor.

"Lucy, I brought you here because we need to talk." Lincoln looks at his younger sister with a begging gaze.

"About what?" The young girl leans in, eager to hear exactly what her brother would say. "Nothing's wrong, right?"

The young boy carefully chooses his next words, "Lucy, I need you to tell me the truth." He stares into the soft, blue eyes hidden behind the dark bangs she had taken such care to grow. "Why are you trying to keep up this façade? You already told me you knew the truth."

Lucy bites her lip, before putting on a painful smile once more, "What façade?"

He sighs, "Lucy, you know I love you, right?" He takes the younger girl's hands in his own.

She nods, "Of course! You're my brother!"

"And you know the truth about me… how I'm sick and there's nothing we can do" He wraps his arms around her.

All the young girl can do in response is look away shamefully.

"Lucy… why are you pretending to be happy?" Lincoln finally asks, pain filling her voice.

"I'm not pretending!" She snaps at him, "We're on vacation you know! Even I need a little time out of the darkness to stay sane, and you know how hard it is to stay sane in our house!"

" _Lucy... even after telling me she knew, she still refuses…"_ He holds his hands in front of him, motioning for her to calm down, "Fine, fine, I guess that's fine…" He then motions towards one of the stalls, "Would you mind taking a seat for me?"

Lucy stares at him for a moment, "What are you-"

"Nothing really. I just wanna do something quickly. I'll be right back, ok?" He motions towards it once more, "Please, do it for me."

She considers his request for a moment, before nodding, "Ok." Then she smiles and walks over to it, sliding into the seat as she does so.

Quickly, he jogs over to the woman moderating who would be able to present their work. And after a short conversation they both nod and Lincoln responds, "Thanks!" With that, he turns and faces the stage

" _Looks like I have no choice…"_ Lincoln then takes a deep breath and walks up the stairs, _"Thank goodness there aren't that many people around, or else I don't think I'd be able to do this."_ When he's in position, he shoves his hand in his pocket and pulls out a small piece of paper.

He coughs twice, eliciting the attention of a certain girl in the audience, "Lucy, you're my sister and I'm your brother, we are two of the same mother." He looks up from the paper, "I care for you and you care for me, we're two birds of the same stone. The darkness in which you rest, I must watch over to pass the test." He holds his hand over his chest, "Lucy, my sister, I love you. Please, let me help you."

In response, Lucy looks away, seemingly unsure of just how to react to her brother's poetry skills.

" _I think that got through to her."_ The white-haired boy takes a deep breath and hops off stage, wasting no time to approach his sister as he does so, "Lucy…"

*Sniffle* "Y-you made that for me?" She does her best to hide the tears forming under her eyes.

The boy nods and wraps his arms around her, "Yeah… Lucy, Lori and I promised not to tell anyone until we come home because we don't want anyone to worry…" He looks into her eyes, "Now please, I need you to talk to me."

She hesitates, doing her best to deny the truth that she herself had admitted to, "About what?"

"Why are you pretending to be so happy?" The boy finishes. "We both know that it hurts to lie to yourself like that…"

Now, Lucy isn't one to open up- after all, she would be teased relentlessly if anyone saw how vulnerable she could let herself become. And yet, she finds herself parting her lips, trying to answer her brother.

Yet, no words form.

In an instant, the young girl breaks free of her brother's embrace and runs away, desperate to put as much distance between her and her sibling.

"Lucy!" Lincoln rushes after her, _"No… Lucy!"_

The next moment is a blur to the duo, with neither knowing just how they find themselves escaping the confines of the poetry club and running into a nearby alleyway, where Lincoln finds his little sister curled up behind a dumpster.

Slowly, the young boy approaches her, his hands outstretched, welcoming her to him. "Lucy…"

"Lincoln…" Instead of unfurling, she simply tightens the grip burying her head in her knees.

" _I have to help her… And them when they finally find out…"_ He sits down by her side, "Hey Lucy."

The young girl doesn't respond.

And so, Lincoln wraps his arms around her, "Please Lucy… I want to help you."

*Sniffle* Lucy tears up, "Have I ever told you why I can… you know… move without being seen?"

"No…" He responds, his voice obviously weary, _"She never talked about this…"_

"It's because… well, I felt like I would feel like I was alone, you know." She looks away in shame, "I got into poetry because I thought it would be the only way to express myself in a full house… to feel noticed."

" _Even in a house as big as ours, it's easy to get lost…"_ Lincoln remains silent, unsure of just how to respond to his sister's words.

"I'll be honest, when I first started, I never expected that you would be able to help me so much, you know…" Her voice trails off for a moment, only for her to pick it up once more, "I always thought… that you'd be able to stay around." She then looks into his eyes, "And when I heard the doctors… I just couldn't."

She pauses painfully, "I may always talk about how existence is pain… but when finally shown where that goes… it scares me. It's like there's nothing I can do to explain it."

For a moment, Lincoln remains silent, searching for an answer to his little sister's fears, and yet finds nothing. The answer eludes him.

"I just… I wish I had a way to show how much it hurts…"

"Let's write a poem together, just you and me, ok?" Lincoln looks passed her bangs and into her eyes once more, "I can tell you've been worrying a lot lately and haven't had the chance."

"But…" She looks away, "Every time I try I always end up thinking about you…"

"Then let it be so, after all, getting something written is better than not having anything at all."

For a moment, Lucy considers arguing further- after all, back at home, she'd always end up writing alone, just to make herself feel better. It's her talent, the one thing that allows her to stand out from the horde of her sisters!

And yet, she would always go to Lincoln when she needed help.

"What harm could it do?" Lincoln smiles at her, before running his hand into her bag and pulling a small notebook, pulling it out as he does so.

" _He's right…"_ Lucy pulls out a small pencil and clutches it for a moment, before bringing it over to the pad, "So w-where do we start?"

"With the truth."

And with that, the duo gets to work, not noticing the young woman watching them.

16-15-5-13-19 1-14-4 13-21-19-9-3 19-15 3-12-15-19-5 25-5-20 19-15 6-1-18

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! Also, since my 5-year-anniversary is coming up, I've started a pull asking what I should do for it! Now, all I have to do is get back in the saddle.**


	14. Moonlight's Call

**A/N Ahh, this took so long to write, for multiple reasons. Thankfully, I took a long enough break that now, author burnout is probably not gonna happen for a bit, so that's good! Also, I thank EpsilonMK46 for editing and I thank Lentex for making the cover art!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Fourteen: Moonlight's Call

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lincoln?" Lucy peaks out from the curtain dividing the poetry club's backstage from the rest of the small theater. From what she can see, the room is mostly filled, with some of the tables off to the sides empty. The rest of the Loud Siblings sit near the back, occupying an oversized booth.

For a moment, Lincoln hesitates, taking the chance to look away from his sister and simply thinks, _"Lucy's never been one for crowds… Heck, I'm surprised she used to do this on her own back home!"_ He looks back at her, "Maybe it would be better if we just saved this to ourselves… right?" He sighs, "I know it's hard, I really do."

Lucy looks up at her older brother, doing her best to hide her emotions behind the black bangs she had grown so accustomed to.

The young boy places a soft hand on his sister's shoulder, "But, I think it's for the best that you do this, ok?"

The young girl remains silent and looks away, seemingly trying to debate the idea herself.

"I don't want to hurt them… this trip was to make the most of our time out, before we had to go back to school…" Without a thought, Lincoln wraps his arms around his little sister. "Lucy, please. I need you to be strong. Everything's gonna be all right."

"But…" She tries to speak up, though finds herself unable to.

And so, Lincoln simply holds her tighter. "But nothing." He breaks their embrace, allowing him to gaze into her eyes once more. "Would I ever lie to you?"

She shakes her head, "No… you wouldn't…" Her voice trails off uncertainly.

"Then why do you think that'd change?" he asks, a soft smile forming on his face, before he finishes with, "Don't worry, Lucy. Everything's gonna be just fine. Life is strange like that." He takes a moment to let his message sink in, "Now, are you ready to recite your poem?"

For a moment, the young Goth simply stands by, doing her best to pull herself together long enough to reply. Though, despite her experience with controlling her emotions, she finds even that task more difficult than one would expect.

Yet, after a few moments pass, she nods. "Yeah, Lincoln… I'm ready. Let's… let's do it…"

And Lincoln nods in response before hugging her one final time. Then, he lets her go and takes a step back. "Don't worry, Lucy. You've done this plenty of times before. You're gonna do great!"

"Presenting… Lucy Loud!" The announcer declares, prompting the club's lights to dim while a small spotlight shines upon the stage.

"And remember, Lucy…" Lincoln speaks with soft, reassuring voice, "Everything's gonna be all right."

The young Goth sighs, "I hope so, Lincoln…" before she turns and steps out onto the stage. Silence fills the air for a moment, urging the young girl to begin. And so she does.

"Sometimes it's hard to know just where you're supposed to go…" She speaks with a soft voice, as if trying to maintain the monotone she had grown accustomed to- though it is obvious she is unable to. "But when you stand and when you fight, you'll know that your family's there for you. In all your strife and all your joy, they'll be by your side…" Soft tears begin to flow down her cheeks, "And when you're lost, don't know where to go, and need a guide, just know that it's not in the stars that lie your destiny, but in yourself…"

And with that, she shoves the notebook under her arm and turns, not staying on stage long enough to acknowledge the calm applause emanating from the crowd.

"So… how was it?" Lincoln asks, concern filling his body, "Please Lucy, I need you to be strong. Please…"

Lucy hesitates for a moment, before tearing up and throwing her arms around him. Without hesitation, Lincoln does the same.

" _She needs me… I- I have to stay strong for them, for them all…_ _"_ he mentally kicks himself, _"If this is how Lucy takes the truth then… then I just need to tell them one at a time… That way…"_ Though, as much as he doesn't want to admit it, a part of him doesn't want to tell the truth, to keep this trip to nowhere going on as long as he possibly can so he wouldn't have to.

And yet, another part reminds him that nothing can last forever.

So, Lincoln nudges his sister, ever so gently, "All right Lucy, it's time to go, the others are waiting for us."

Without a word, Lucy nods, "All right Lincoln… all right…" She sniffles, before wiping her tears so that they would remain hidden behind her bangs. "Lets… go find the others…" She looks away.

And with that, Lincoln nods, before taking Lucy's hand in his own and heading off to find the rest of their clan.

* * *

Nearby, the young Louds sat by, simply whispering amongst themselves-doing their best not to disturb the dark, somber atmosphere that had drawn in many of the other patrons.

"That's weird," Lynn says as she rubs her chin in curiosity.

"What is?" Lori takes a sip of the coffee the club had provided.

The young athlete's voice fills with concern, "I've never seen Lucy cry when she read her poems…" She tilts her head, "I've heard her sigh and talk about how her existence is pain… but tears? That's a first…"

 _"…I hope Lincoln managed to get through to her…"_ Lori mentally sighs, before waving her off. "Nah, I don't think there's anything to worry about. I mean, come on! This is Lucy we're talking about! As much as she's all miss doom and gloom, if something were bugging her, she'd tell us."

"Yeah! It's not like she's got a pet fly!" Luan cuts in, before throwing her head back in laughter. "Or even better, she's not as crazy as a batter!"

"Ugh." Her sisters groan in frustration, before Lynn shakes her head. "Anyways, even then Lori, it's not like her…" a suspicious expression overtakes her, _"Lori's pregnant, yeah, but now that I think of it, why would she be behaving strangely over it? She's used to keeping secrets from us…"_

"Anyways." Lori hops to her feet and stretches, "I think that's a great way to end our trip here, don't you think?"

"I, like, totes loved it here." Leni holds her hands up at her side in excitement, while Lola grabs a nearby shopping bag and holds it up. "We got the cutest matching dresses!"

Meanwhile, Lana just props her head up on the table. "Meh, it could've been better." Though Lynn staring daggers at her stops the young plumber from continuing.

As for Luna, she props her legs up on the table and crosses her arms. In any other situation, she'd be strumming along on her acoustic guitar, doing her best to practice despite the quick patchwork she had done on the instrument. But, since she wanted to enjoy the poetry, she had decided against the idea. "It's been fun, I'll agree."

And Lily, she simply claps her hands, before flaring her arms and answering, "Poo-poo!" followed by some more baby gibberish.

"Great." Lori smiles, _"Then this trip is still going great. There's nothing to worry about, and there'll be nothing to worry about as long as I'm able to keep things sane…"_ She pauses her train of thought, doing her best to ignore the realization dawning upon her. Though it moves on anyways. _"I just hope that I'll be able to keep things calm when they find out the truth…"_ She then turns around and gazes into the nearby crowd. "Now, where's Lincoln and Lucy? They should be here by now."

"We're right here." The duo walks over to join their family, with Lincoln continuing, "The manager just came by to thank us for visiting and that he'd be happy if we came by to do some more poetry later."

Lucy remains silent, as if she was seemingly wishing she had more time to do another.

"Maybe some other time, you two." The eldest sister smiles, before squatting down to Lucy's height, making sure to whisper, "You feelin' ok?"

For a moment, Lucy looks away, before giving a slight nod and whispering, "Y-yeah…"

"If something's the matter, you know you can talk to us, right?" She continues.

The young Goth nods in understanding, "Yeah, I know…" She looks up towards her white-haired brother. "But Lincoln's helped me as much as he could… I-I think I'll be fine."

The young woman sighs, "All right, if you say so…" She stands up straight, "It's never that easy." Before she turns towards the rest of her siblings, "Now we just have to-"

*Ring!*A familiar device cuts her off. "What the-" And before she knows it, she's holding her phone up and reading the Caller ID. " _Mom…"_

Her heart sinks. _"N-no… they can't be home already_ _._ _If they're home_ _,_ _that can only mean…"_

"Who is it?" Lynn tilts her head in curiosity.

"It's just Bobby." Lori hastily replies. "I'm gonna go talk to him. Be back in a few." She then quickly walks off, hoping that her strange reaction wouldn't cause her sisters to become suspicious.

A moment of confused silence passes with that, before Luna hops to her feet and grabs her guitar. "Welp, I'm gonna go for a walk. Be back in a few, guys."

"Wait, Luna!" Lincoln quickly hops to his feet as well. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Uhh… yeah, bro. Why wouldn't it be?" She raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What if you're not back before Lori finishes the call? She's gonna be annoyed that you wandered off!" Lincoln flares his arms in an attempt to emphasize his point.

Luna chuckles in response, "Come on, bro. She's talking to Bobby! Did you forget the time they spent fifteen hours just talking to each other?"

Lincoln hesitates his response, though Luna simply continues, "You know, if you're so worried that I'm not gonna be back before she finishes, then…" The young musician squats down to his height, "how about you come with? That way, we can make sure that neither of us stays out too long."

For a moment, Lincoln considers the idea. "It's risky… but…"

Yet, before he can even finish considering, Luna turns and walks off nonchalantly. "Come on, bro! It'll be fun!" She then walks out the door.

The young boy sighs, _"I could never say no to you, Luna."_ Before he adds, "Hey! Wait up!" He then stands up straight and gives chase, leaving the remainder of his siblings to wait in the booth.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Lola turns to Leni in curiosity.

Leni rubs her chin for a moment before saying, "We can, like, talk about dress ideas!"

Lola rubs her chin in response, before smiling, "That's a great idea! We can work on ideas for my next pageant gown together!"

"Heh, that'll be a dress to follow!" Luan puns, before throwing her head back in laughter, with Lily clapping her hands in approval, and Lisa deciding to preoccupy herself with her latest study.

"Welp, I'm gonna go use it." Lynn promptly hops out of the booth and stretches.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" Lana quickly follows.

"What? You gotta use it too?" The young athlete raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"No." The young plumber waves her off, "But if given the choice between using the can and listening to puns and dresses, I'll go for the toilet any day."

Lynn grimaces. "Fine. Come on then, Lana." She turns and walks off, with her little sister following.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

For a moment, the two Loud Siblings simply walk through the nighttime town and eventually into a nearby park, a silent air overtaking them. Unlike what they would expect in Royal Woods, there aren't too many people out and about at this hour- though they don't seem to mind.

Above them rests a dark, cloudless, star-filled sky, while around them lies the beautiful, tree-filled park. Their path ahead paved with stone and lit up by soft, light blue lamps. To many, this would be a perfect example of a calm time amongst the chaos that is their normal life.

And yet, they both know better.

"So, uhh, Luna… what brought this on?" Lincoln looks up at Luna, the young woman simply replying by strumming more familiar cords. "No reason, really. I just wanted to take a walk." She looks at him. "Though, since you're here, why don't we talk a bit?"

"About what?" He tilts his head in confusion.

Luna hesitates in her reply. _"_ _I can't rush… If I do, he'll get defensive and I doubt he'll be willing to tell the truth if he's afraid about how I'd take it…_ _"_ And so, instead, she simply smiles. "Anything you want, bro. I'm all ears."

Lincoln pauses. _"Should I tell her? I mean, I can trust her with anything, right?' He shakes his head_ _._ _"Nah, there's nothing."_

"You make that sound like it's a good thing." She wraps her free arm around him, while making sure to use the other hand to hold onto her guitar as tightly as she can. "Come on, bro. How are you feelin'? How are you enjoying this trip Lori's takin' us on?"

"I'm fine…" The boy's voice trails off, with him seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation.

Luna looks away in concern, allowing her gaze to fall upon a small bench just a few feet away. From what she can see, it's simple, with the seat made of wood and the borders that hold it in place made from concrete. No doubt if it were daytime, they would be able to see how poor its condition truly is. Although Luna doesn't mind not knowing.

Wordlessly, she walks over and takes a seat, making sure to motion for Lincoln to follow her soon after. And of course, the boy does so without saying a word.

For the next few minutes, they simply sit there, in the quiet, moonlit forest of the town park, with nothing but Luna's music filling the quiet, almost comforting atmosphere around them.

Though, given what home they live in, they both know that silence- even a soft, golden one- cannot last forever.

"A beautiful night, isn't it, Linc?" Luna leans back, allowing her gaze to move up to greet the sight.

"Y-yeah… I guess it is," Lincoln stammers, unsure of how to respond to his sister.

"Heh, it reminds me of the night we went to your first concert." She continues, "It was a Smooch one, right?"

Lincoln nods, before looking away, his mind beginning to revert back to the troubled thoughts that had plagued him. _"_ _Why did I agree to this? Can I trust Luna? What if she already knows and plans to tell everyone else?! What'll I do then?!_ _"_

"Good times mate, good times." The young musician chuckles, "How'd you enjoy your date with Ronnie Anne?"

Instantly, Lincoln's face goes red and he turns to his sister. "S-she's not my girlfriend!"

Luna chuckles, "Oh? Then why'd we see her kiss you back in the tunnel of love?"

"W-we're just good friends." He looks away, doing his best to hide the embarrassment filling his body.

"Just teasin', bro. Just teasin'." She chuckles again, before her soft smile, turns into a pained, concerned frown. She sighs, "Lincoln… you know I love you, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Lincoln responds.

"And you can trust me with anything, right?" She mutters, her voice filling with a welcoming heat.

The boy nods. "Of course… you've helped me so much and… I don't think I haven't told you anything."

The young woman sighs, "There is something…" She looks away. "Lincoln… ever since you left the hospital, I noticed that you and Lori have had a lot on your mind… And with Lucy acting all happy and clingy to you…well, I found that strange."

" _She's suspicious… no…_ _"_ Lincoln's heart begins to race. After all of their work, making sure that no one besides him and Lori would know the truth. And yet, here he is, sitting with a suspicious Luna while Lucy had revealed she knew just the night prior!

"I-I'm sorry…" Lincoln's voice trails off, "I just… I'm fine."

 _"He's lying…"_ The young woman's mind begins to race, "There's more going on…" She turns to her brother. "Please Lincoln, please… tell me the truth." She then leans in and turns Lincoln to face her, "Please… I know that something's going on with you guys. I wanna help you. You trust me, don't you?"

 _"I do trust you, but… if you knew the truth, how would you react?"_ Lincoln nods, "I… I do trust you Luna… I just… Lori-"

Luna sighs, "Lincoln, last night, I overheard you talking to Lucy, I heard that you're sick." Pain begins to fill her voice. "I love you, Lincoln, and I wanna make sure that you feel better. Please, tell me the truth."

"I-I can't say." Lincoln stammers, "L-Lori and I promised that we would tell everyone later!"

Instead of continuing, Luna looks into Lincoln's eyes with a begging gaze, silently hoping that he would divulge the information she so desired of his own accord.

Lincoln looks away, unwilling to look his sister in the eye, _"Luna… please… this hurts me to have to hide, but it's for the best, right?"_

"Please, Lincoln. I'm begging you…" Luna's voice goes low, while soft tears begin to flood her eyes. "I heard that your body is attacking itself. Was that sunburn more than just that?!"

"L-Luna…" He painfully spits out.

"Please, let me help you." She takes Lincoln's face in her hand and turns it back to face her. "Please, Linc. Please…"

The boy can see the pain of betrayal filling his sister's eyes. Her following silence begging him to reveal a truth that he had taken so much care to keep hidden.

And so, with a soft sigh, he nods, "Luna, I'm sick."

The young woman says nothing, urging him to continue. And so he does. "Before we left the hospital, the doctors told me that I have… something and that the seizure was a bad sign…"

For a moment after that, the duo sits in silence, allowing cool, late-summer air to overtake them. For a short moment, all seems calm, though they both know it to be a lie.

"So… this trip…" Luna's voice trails off, as if she herself doesn't want any more of the truth, despite her past desire.

Lincoln sighs, "It was Lori's idea. After hearing about just how bad my 'condition' is, she decided that we should have a chance to enjoy summer together, before we couldn't anymore…"

The musician looks away. "Oh…" She puts on a pained smile and turns back to him. "Don't worry. Every little thing's gonna be ok." She wraps her arm around him. "So, what's the plan? You know, are we gonna go home, continue this trip, or what?"

The boy then sighs, before turning towards his sister with a begging gaze. "Next… I guess we just have to keep going… until summer's end…" The young boy hugs his sister with as tight a grip as he can muster.

And wordlessly, his sister returns the embrace.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"I don't get it, Lynn! Lori wouldn't hide anything from us!" Lana flares her arms, trying to emphasize her point.

"You never know." Lynn quickly looks into a nearby corridor- right where their older sister stands by, her phone up to her head while she simply holds her ringing phone in her hand.

The young athlete motions for her little sister to come over. "Be quiet, okay? We're just gonna listen in on her for a sec."

"Ugh! I don't wanna hear her talk to Bobby for the next ten minutes." Lana pulls back and sticks her tongue out in disgust.

"Neither do I." Lynn responds, leaning in as close as she can while making sure that her older sister wouldn't notice her. "But… if she's not really talking to Bobby, then I wanna find out why she lied."

Lana raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Uhh… what makes you think that she's not talking to Bobby?"

"Because ever since Lincoln left the hospital, she's been acting weird, why else?" Lynn turns to her, concern filling her expression. "And ever since we started this trip, I haven't heard a thing from mom and dad… doesn't it make you worry?"

"Not really." The young plumber shrugs. "I mean, if something were up with Lincoln, mom, or dad, I'm sure she'd tell us. She loves **and** trusts us!"

"Yeah… I know." The young athlete turns away. _"But… if she were only pregnant, then I know that she'd tell us. Something else is going on, and she's worried that it and her pregnancy will be too much for us to handle at the same time…"_ And so she sighs, "Come on, Lana. Just listen. As soon as we're done, we can go do something else, ok?"

"Fine." The younger girl shrugs, before walking over and leaning in, listening to her older sister as she does so.

* * *

For a moment, Lori simply holds the ringing phone in her hand, _"Should I answer? Should I not? That is the question…"_ She sighs, _"But if I don't… then they're bound to call Luna or somebody who doesn't know the truth… and then everyone's gonna find out…"_

*Ring* *Ring*

 _"I don't have much of a choice, now don't I…"_ she clutches the device, before carefully tapping the "answer" button on the screen and lifting the device up to her head. "Hey, mom. What's up?"

"Lorelei Loud! Where are you?!" the Loud mother shouts while her voice quickly echoes through the speaker.

"We're out of the house, you know. We're still at Aloha Beach, surfing the waves and stuff," she meekly answers, doing her best as to put on a calm, authoritative voice. Though it is obvious to anyone around that she's unable to do so.

"Aloha Beach?! You should've been home days ago!" Fury fills the mother's voice. "What are you still doing there?!"

For a moment, Lori remains silent. It would be easy to lie to her mother… but after living in her home for as long as she has, she knows that lying will not get her anywhere. "Mom… something happened to Lincoln… we went to the hospital and now we're heading home…"

Suddenly, her mother's voice softens. "What happened?"

"He… had a seizure." She does her best to remain calm, but she finds herself tearing up at every attempt she makes. "The doctors didn't tell us much, but Lincoln is… he's really sick… his body is attacking itself…"

A moment, with a shocked atmosphere overtaking the young woman and her mother.

"So what are you doing right now?" The woman's voice fills with a soft, motherly care.

"Well… we were planning on heading home in a few days… you know, to have some fun before the end of summer." Lori pauses for a moment before continuing, "The doctors warned us that his 'condition' may be very far along and that he may not have that much time left."

For a moment, the woman remains silent, debating what to order her daughter to do. And so, with a soft sigh she commands, "Lori, you have to bring Lincoln and everyone else home."

The young woman's heart sinks. "But we're having so much fun!" Her voice fills with fear.

"I know you mean well, Lori. But if Lincoln's as sick as it sounds like he is, then it'd be better if you just brought him back home. That way, we can all take care of him together."

Lori remains silent.

"Please, Lori. I know it's hard to want to come back so soon and end your vacation, but this isn't going to help." Rita's voice fills with a begging hope, as if she herself knows what her daughter is thinking.

"N-no… I-I can't…" Lori hesitates, her mind racing while her heart sinks. And yet, despite the pain filling her body, she simply nods. "All right mom… I'll… I'll bring him home."

"Good." The woman finishes, "You have enough money for food, right?"

"Yeah…" Lori's voice trails off. "We've got enough to work with for a while…"

"Good. Now come home. Your father and I will talk about what to do."

"All right." The young woman answers, before the line goes dead, leaving the young woman alone to her thoughts.

And after a short moment, she begins to tear up, "Lincoln… we have to go home… summer's ending and you're gonna get sicker…" She stares at her phone and clutches it. "Why you…" She then shoves it in her pocket and looks away, walking into the nearby bathroom immediately afterwards, no doubt to hide the make-up beginning to run down her cheeks.

"L-Lincoln's sick?!" Lana repeats in disbelief, "A-and she didn't tell us?!"

For a moment, Lynn stands by, her jaw lowered in surprise. "I… I knew she was pregnant but… Lincoln's sick too?" Suddenly, the realization begins to dawn on her. "T-that's why Lucy was acting so clingy! It's because we don't have that much time left with him!"

"We have to find out the truth! I can't believe Lincoln's as sick as that!" Lana speaks up, bolting towards the bathroom door as she does so. "I can't believe that he's sick! He looks fine!"

And unconsciously, Lynn follows.

Immediately, the duo bursts through the bathroom door, with Lana shouting, "Lori! I-"

Yet, before she can finish her line, Lynn throws her hand over her mouth and puts on a fake smile. "Just wanted to know if you were done in here. We're just waiting for you to come on out!"

"I'll just be a minute." Lori doesn't bother to look up from the sink, silently hoping that neither of them would notice her bleeding mascara and the tears that had caused it to run. "Just tell them to keep on listening, I'm sure that there will be a few more diamonds in the rough there…"

"You got it!" Lynn quickly replies, before pulling Lana out of the bathroom and letting go of her.

The young plumber immediately turns to her older sister. "Lynn! What was that for?! We were supposed to-"

"Lana…" Lynn cuts her off, before squatting to her height, "I'm sorry, but… if Lori didn't want us to know yet, then… I don't think it's a good idea to trouble her about it."

"What?! This is Lincoln we're talking about!" The younger girl flares her arms in frustration. "We could be losing our only brother, and all you wanna do is sit by and do nothing?!"

"I didn't say that." The young woman stands up straight and sighs, "I think it'd be a good idea to confront Lori about this trip and the truth later, ok? Right now, we have to find Lincoln and make sure he's ok."

"But-" Lana tries to argue, only for Lynn to cut her off once again.

"No 'buts'. We can deal with Lori later, ok? Right now, we have to help out Lincoln." Lynn then takes her hand and pulls her away. _"I have to talk to Lori about this later…"_

"Grr…" Lana growls, while begrudgingly allowing herself to follow along. _"I'm gonna go find out the truth!"_

And with that, they move on to rejoin the rest of their siblings.

 _ **The Next Morning…**_

"Are you ok in there, Lori?" Lincoln tiredly asks. Thankfully, having to share a room with his sisters made it so none of them suspected anything despite his ever-growing fatigue. "I really gotta use it."

On the other side of the door, the young woman sits, hunched over the toilet bowl, ready if last night's dinner decides to make another reappearance. "Yeah, I'm fine!" she responds, "I just ate something weird at the café!"

"What does she have, Lisa?" Leni asks with a concerned tone.

In response, Lisa simply scribbles down some notes and turns to her older sister, whispering, "You know, you will not be able to hide this from them for long."

"Don't remind me." The young woman whispers back, "But Lincoln and I have got enough on our plate, and everyone going crazy about me being pregnant and Lincoln being sick isn't going to help matters."

"Of course, I am aware of that fact." Lisa sighs, "On that topic, I have checked the medicine Lincoln has been taking, as well as the condition itself… However, from the looks of it, things do not favor him."

"I could've figured that out back at the hospital last week." Lori spits out in response, "Do you know how to help him?"

For a moment, Lisa rubs her chin, trying to come up with an idea. And yet, despite all of her knowledge and expertise, she finds herself drawing a blank. "You see, Lori… there is an issue…"

She looks up from her toilet perch. "What is it?"

"You see, lupus is caused by a mutation is the body's DNA, which means that the only way to effectively 'cure' something like that is to rewrite someone's genetic code…" Lisa shakes her head and begins to rub her arm. "What the doctors did was treat it the best they could…"

"So what do you suggest we do, Lisa?" Lori finally asks, fear filling her whisper.

"Wait and hope, I suppose. There really isn't much I can do at the moment…" She looks away. "But…"

"But?" Lori raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"If you could somehow get me to a lab, I might be able to pull some strings and try something… Perhaps it will be able to help our ailing brother get through his current condition."

The young woman takes a breath. _"It's not like we have any other options… Mom and_ _D_ _ad want us home already…"_ And so she answers, "All right, Lisa. All right. I'll see what I can do."

"Lisa! Lori! Are you done in there?! I need to go do my makeup!" Lola shouts, frustration apparent in her voice.

"Yeah!" Lori forces herself up onto her feet. "We'll come out right now." She looks to her younger sister once more. "Do what you can, all right?"

Lisa nods in understanding. "Very well." The duo opens the door up, allowing Leni to step past and push them out, all with a bright smile on her face.

And before they know it, the door's locked once more, this time with Leni inside and Luna, Lincoln, and Lola waiting in line to follow her. Everyone else stands around the room, simply distracting themselves with whatever they can. "Huh. Well, that was fast."

"I, of course, am unsurprised." Lisa shakes her head.

"So, how are you feelin', Lori?" Luna speaks up, tilting her head in confusion. "You were in there for, like, half an hour."

The young woman simply waves her off. "No worries. I'm fine. Right, Lisa?"

The four-year-old adjusts her glasses and nods. "Indeed. She just needs a minor drink of water, and then everything will be fine."

"Then I'll go get it." Lori begins to walk away. "Thanks for the help, Lisa!"

"No issue at all." The young girl replies, before her eldest sister heads out of the room, leaving the rest of her siblings behind.

As soon as the room door closes, Lana nudges Lynn. "Hey, I think it'd be a good idea to talk to Lori now. Come on…"

For a moment, the young athlete hesitates, before shaking her head. "Not now, Lana. Not now."

"Why not?" She tilts her head in confusion. "She's alone! Now's the perfect chance to-"

"No, Lana." Lynn cuts her off once more. "It's not a good idea. I don't wanna worry her about anything else, ok? She's sick right now and, well… I learned a while back that it's not a good idea to mess with Lori when she's sick."

" _So…it looks like Lynn doesn't wanna find out the truth, huh?_ _"_ Lana steels her nerves and begins to back away. "Fine then… I guess I'll have to just go and, uhh… make sure Vanzilla's ready for the trip today!" And before she knows it, she's out the door, leaving no one but Lynn even aware about what she is about to do.

 _"That's not gonna end well for her…"_ Lynn shivers at the idea of Lori's rage falling upon her younger sister. And yet, she finds herself more concerned about what is to become of her younger brother. _"If what Lori said about Lincoln is true_ _,_ _then… this trip was meant for more than use just trying to have fun…"_

She kicks herself for her ignorance. _"It's not my fault… right? I can't do anything about it, right? If I could, then wouldn't Lori have asked me to?"_ She shakes her head and plays off the thought before grabbing a nearby ball and simply holding it in her hands, trying desperately to get her train of thought moving onto something else.

Though, when Lana runs out of the room, she does so catching the attention of a certain young girl. "What's she up to?"

Quickly, Lola breaks from the line and gives chase. "I don't need Lana ruining this vacation!" She then quickly follows, leaving everyone else to their own devices.

"So, where do you guys wanna go today?" Luna asks, taking a seat on one of the beds. "We've been to a poetry club, the mall, and a few amusement parks. Where else could we go?"

For a moment, the room begins to fill with the typical noise that the Loud Family had been known to bring with them, as they argue about what to do next.

Though, eventually, Luan breaks through the silence with, "Hey, guys! How about we go to a circus next? There's a place nearby, and they're doing a show today!"

A few more minutes pass with that, while the Louds debate the idea. Though they eventually settle on going to the circus.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

" _Well… at least things can't get any worse…"_ Lori takes a breath, before carefully inserting a dollar into the vending machine standing before her. And with a quick tap of a button, a small bottle pops out. _"Those girls have probably decided where we should go next by now…"_

"Lori!" A familiar voice shouts, causing her to turn towards it.

"Lana?" The young woman raises an eyebrow in confusion.

The young plumber stands before her with her arms crossed and a determined gaze aimed squarely at her older sister, "You've got some explainin' to do!"

12-9-5-19 1-14-4 4-5-3-5-14-20 19-20-18-1-9-14 20-8-5-19-5 2-15-14-4-19

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! Man, this took so long to write, but now that classes are back in session, I'll finally be able to focus on writing again! Also, the poll's still up, and currently, it looks like I'm gonna be looking for someone to do a collab with.**

 **Great news! Finding A Loud got its own trope page!**

 **Lastly, I've joined the Loud house Wiki discord and Lentex's Fanfiction discord. Feel free to come by if you'd like to talk!**

 **See ya guys next time!**


	15. The Last Show

**A/N What sorcery is this?! I have somehow managed to write this whole chapter in less than a week! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! And I thank Sunblast-X for helping me out!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Fifteen: The Last Show

Lynn has never been one for emotions. In fact, if one were to accuse her of being overly emotional she'd respond by arguing that Lucy showed more feelings than her! After all, Lucy writes poems that talk about her feelings while she herself wouldn't dare do so out of fear of losing her "street cred"!

And yet, here she is, simply standing against the wall in her crowded motel room, just thinking. Her face is almost expressionless- though anyone nearby would be able to tell that she is on the verge of tears.

 _"Lincoln is sick… that's what Lori told mom and dad."_ She crosses her arms and simply stares at the room's shag carpet, seemingly trying to pull something- she doesn't know what- from its messy fabric. Though of course, she finds nothing. _"She wouldn't lie right… try to get out of having to take us home and keep the vacation going just because she doesn't wanna go to college?"_

The young woman shakes the thought from her mind, _"No… no… she'd never do that to us, she would want to make sure that we were happy."_ She tries to force herself not to continue that train of thought, but the rails set in her mind are more than enough to force it along, _"Then that can only mean that Lincoln is really sick, and there's nothing that any of us can do about it…"_

*Yawn* Lincoln stretches as he sits up from his bedside perch. Given just how many times the Loud Family has had to share accommodations during this vacation, he got used to sleeping on the very edge of one of the beds. "Ahh, mornin' guys."

"Good mornin' lil' bro." Luna speaks with a soft, comforting tone. "You feelin' all right? You managed to out sleep Lily!"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired." He turns to his older sister, the young woman having sat down by his side to watch over him while he slept, only leaving his side to use the bathroom once. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, having her know felt nice, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Heh, all right bro, all right." Luna leans in close to him and whispers a few inaudible words causing the young boy to chuckle.

"Nice one Luna." He quips, before hops to his feet, walks passed Lynn and queuing in line for the bathroom. Even on vacation, they can't get passed having to share one of those rooms.

 _"But… he doesn't look sick, right? And if he doesn't look sick, then he's definitely not sick!"_ She mentally kicks herself at that though, _"No… you've seen it plenty of times Lynn. Lincoln always does his best to hide it when he's hurting, even when we could help him out…"_ Her gaze falls upon her brother, the young boy simply going through his bag while he waits. His movements are soft and careful, despite the fact that neither the bag nor its contents were delicate enough to require them.

 _"Lincoln's always been a gentle one… but, that's what's so great about him…"_ In the next few moments, countless memories begin to resurface- all of them involving Lincoln and herself. And yet, only one memory seems to stand out from the rest. And before she knows it, Lynn's watching it play out as if it is happening in real time.

* * *

"What brought this on, Linc?" A young Lynn walks into the Loud house Backyard, tossing her base ball and catching it, trying to warm her hand up for what she is about to do.

"N-no reason…" Lincoln rubs the back of his head, "I just… I was in school today and I was wondering how you do it all and stuff."

"Practice bro, that's all it is." She walks over to the tree and leans against it, before passing the ball over to her brother, "Now then, why don't you try to throw it back to me?"

Lincoln clutches the ball for a moment, "O-ok, I can do it…" before he pulls back and throws… only for the ball to immediately nosedive into the grass.

Now, when Lynn trains someone, she usually takes care not to offend them in any way- after all, when starting off you need to build some trust- and yet, after seeing that throw, the young girl can't help, but snicker for a moment, before throwing her head back in laughter, "Haha! That was the worst throw I've ever seen, Lincoln! What the heck?!"

Instead of responding, Lincoln's once hopeful and seemingly excited expression quickly fades, turning into a pained frown for a moment, before he turns around and walks away, "I guess I'm really not cut out for something like this…"

Immediately Lynn's eyes go wide and she bolts after her brother, "Wait, Lincoln, I didn't-" yet, when she places her hand on the boy's shoulder, he simply shrugs her off, "No, you did mean it… it's the truth…" The boy's voice fills with pain, before he bolts back into the home, leaving the young Lynn standing in the backyard.

 _"I messed up."_ The young girl sighs, before giving chase to her brother and entering their home. It takes her a few minutes to find her brother, though given the amount of times he has hidden under the bed in hopes of escaping his sisters, she finds the task easier than one would expect.

And so, she hops on Lincoln's bed and sighs, "Lincoln… I'm sorry…"

The young boy remains silent, choosing instead to curl up under the mattress.

 _"I messed up, big time…"_ The young girl climbs to her knees and gazes upon her brother, the young boy simply holding himself tightly in a desperate attempt to hide from the world. "Lincoln… what's wrong?" She speaks with an uncharacteristic heat, desperate to get an answer from her brother.

*Sniffle* The boy responds.

For a moment, Lynn hesitates her next action, unsure if it would end well enough, _"But… it's not like I have much of a choice…"_ And so, she grabs her brother and carefully pulls him from his cover.

In response, the boy simply continues to cry into his knees, unwilling to acknowledge his sister's presence.

Lynn softens her gaze, "Lincoln… what's wrong bro?"

*Sniffle* "Lynn… do you think I'm weak?"

Instantly, the young girl grabs her brother and forces him to his feet, while also making him look her in the eyes, "What are you talking about?! You're one of the strongest guys I know!"

*Sniffle* "Yeah… you say that right after you manhandle me like it's nothing…" The young boy looks away. "And just a few minutes ago, I couldn't even throw the ball right!"

"So?" Lynn moves his head back to face her, "I wasn't always able to throw a ball and or a kick the way I do now!" She smiles at him, "But I worked hard and I got stronger."

Lincoln's body begins to loosen up.

"Now, what brought this on?" Lynn asks with a soft, almost motherly tone, "I've never seen you wanna do stuff like this with me, you know."

The boy takes a seat on his bed, "Well… These kids at school… they were making fun of me… because they think I'm weak and well, I wanted to prove that I wasn't!"

For a moment, Lynn considers planning a few 'disappearances', after all, no one messes with her brother and gets away with it. But, instead, she wraps her arms around her brother, "Lincoln, just ignore them. They know that you're better than them, that's why they do what they are." She pushes him away and looks into his eyes, "You're special Lincoln and I promise I'll make sure that you'll be ok."

"Really Lynn?!" Lincoln's eyes go wide in surprise.

And the young woman wraps her arms around him once more, "Yeah Linc, I promise. If you ever need help, just call."

"T-thanks." He responds, returning the embrace, "Hey Lynn…"

"Yes Lincoln?" The girl responds.

"Why'd you get into sports anyway?" The boy asks.

"Heh, that's a story for another day." She answers with a smile, "All I'll tell you is that it involves a tooth gap." Before holding him even tighter, _"I promise… I'll be there when you need me the most."_

* * *

 _"I promised…"_ Lynn repeats, _"And I can't do anything to keep it…"_

"Anyways." *Yawn* Lincoln shoves his head through a fresh orange polo and stretches, before reaching for his bag and quickly throwing it on, "I'm gonna go out for some fresh air, all right?" and without another word, he makes his way over to the room entrance.

Immediately, Lynn's eyes go wide and she grabs her brother's arm just as he's about to walk out the door, "Mind if I come with?"

 _"I'd rather you not."_ Lincoln shrugs, "Sure I guess… I'm not really doing much out there you know." While he thinks, _"Yeah, nothing but taking the meds the doctors said I have to."_

Lynn looks at him with a begging gaze, "Come on, it's better than just standing out there alone."

And so, with a sigh, Lincoln nods, "Fine, I don't mind." And with that, they both step out of the room.

A few moments later, the duo stand in silence outside their motel room, with neither sure just how to break the silence that had formed between them.

Though, of course, Lynn is the first to speak up, "So, uhh… Lincoln, how're things going with ya?"

The boy shrugs, "Ehh, all right I guess." He looks out into the nearby highway, allowing his gaze to be carried away by the countless cares driving off in the distance.

"That's cool…" Lynn's voice trails off, with the young girl unsure of just what to say next, _"I… I have to ask him… I need to know the truth."_ And so, she speaks with an unsure tone, "So uhh, Lincoln… you trust me, right?"

"Yeah?" Lincoln nods, "You're my sister! Of course I trust you!" He turns to her in confusion, while raising an eyebrow.

 _"This is your only chance…"_ The young athlete sighs, "Then Lincoln, can you please tell me the truth, you know, about this trip?"

"There's nothing going on." Lincoln hastily replies. He's been running this lie for so long that its words are second nature to him.

"Please don't lie to me." Lynn sighs, before giving her brother a begging gaze, "I overheard Lori talk to mom and dad about you being sick." She looks into his eyes, her own gaze filling with distress, "Please Lincoln, I need to know the truth."

Lincoln mentally kicks himself, _"I let her corner me…"_ And chooses to put a smile on, "Come on Lynn, this is all for fun!"

"Then why did I hear Lori talking about you being sick?!" Lynn grabs the boy's arms. "Not only that, but Lucy has been acting weird since we left the hospital! I originally thought it was because of Lori being…" She stops herself from finishing, half expecting Lincoln to already know, and ensuring the secret if he does, "but…" She shakes her head. "That's besides the point.

 _"She… she's got me in her grip… I can't escape."_ The young boy's eyes go wide in surprise. He had thought he would be able to at least get away or do something to prolong the inevitable.

"Please Lincoln… why are you and Lori lying to us? About the real reason we're on this trip." She squeezes him tighter, her iron grip urging him to push further with his answer.

It only takes a moment for the white-haired boy to realize the truth: He had no choice but to tell his sister the truth.

"Because I'm scared, ok?!" He looks away in shame, "I've been lying because I'm scared… I've been going along with Lori's idea because I don't know what to make of everything that's going on! One day we're having fun at the beach and the next, I'm talking to some white-haired girl in a hospital." He fights the urge to tear up, "And now everyone's finding out I'm sick!

The young athlete remains silent for a moment, before clutching her arms and looking in the eyes, "Do you wanna be on this trip?" She asks, pain filling her voice.

Lincoln nods, "I've been enjoying it, you know… having fun despite… you know." He smiles at the memories- of the good times he was able to cram into the end of summer, and all of them involving his sisters.

Lynn looks on in interest, "You're afraid, but you're not acting like you are."

"That's because before we went on this trip, a friend told me that, well while I may not have much time left, I shouldn't let it define me…" He begins tearing up, "But, I've just been ignoring the truth, haven't I? I'm sorry Lynn…"

"You're sorry?!" Lynn hugs Lincoln, "I've been too rough all these years! I'm your sister for crying out loud! I should be taking care of you!" She then whispers, "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me…"

"I'm sorry for lying." Lincoln responds.

"I forgive you." She holds him close, "Please, let us help you… you don't have to go through this alone."

And without a word, Lincoln simply returns her hug.

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

For as long as Lana could remember, she had always looked up to her older siblings. She admired how despite just how hectic life in their home could get, Lori would bring everyone into line, while Luna would fill the house with a soothing melody. If they needed someone to perk them up after a bad day, they could always rely on Leni to pour her heart out for them, while Luan would stop at nothing to get them to smile!

And most importantly, she knows that they would never lie to her or anyone else, right?

Yet, despite everything she knows about them, she stands before the oldest of them all; he queen of no and the only one capable of keeping everyone in line on a trip such as this; with her gaze fierce and her finger pointed firmly at her, "Lori! I wanna know the truth!"

Instantly, Lori mentally recoils, while her eyes go wide in shock. _"W-what? L-Lana shouldn't suspect anything, right?"_ She puts on a sheepish smile, "What're you talkin' about?"

Lana stares into her eldest sister's eyes, unwilling to let her break free of her grip, "Why are we on this trip?!"

 _"Calm down Lori, she's just angry about something, calm down…"_ The young woman softens her expression, while making sure to lean in closer to her sister, "No reason really, I just wanted you guys to have some fun before we all had to go back to school in the fall." Though, Lori can't help, but mentally add, _"And I have to finally go off to college…"_

Much to Lori's dismay, however, Lana crosses her arms and continues to stare, "Ok then, if that's true then why did I hear you tell mom and dad that Lincoln's sick?!"

Immediately, Lori's heart begins to race faster than it has ever done before, _"N-no… she can't know yet! She just can't! We- we haven't told anyone else yet!"_ The young woman puts on a soft smile, doing her best to maintain the illusion of control that she had so carefully crafted over the past few days, "What are you talkin' about?"

"Lori, you can stop trying to hide it." The younger girl does her best to not tear up at the idea, "I know something's going on with Lincoln!"

"I'm not trying to hide anything! Really, I'm not!" Unconsciously, she steps back and holds her hands up defensively.

"Oh really?" Lana stares for a moment, before coming closer to her sister, closing the gap that she is trying to make between them. "Then why did I hear you talk mom and dad about it then?! Huh?! Why'd it sound like they were telling you to take us home?!" The young girl may only be a fraction of her sister's height, but the rage and anger filling her veins are more than enough to make it seem as if she is twice that.

In that moment, Lori finds herself cornered. The obvious choice- running off and trying to get everyone else to drive her off would never work, as Lana would just spill the beans then, and only God knows what would happen then.

Desperation begins to fill her body with that, _"T-there has to be a way out of this…"_ She carefully checks her surroundings, and yet finds nothing that could distract Lana- and even then, she'd still end up telling everyone the truth.

That only leaves one option, and Lori doesn't want to resort to it. Though, she knows she has no other choice

"Fine… I'll tell you…" And so, the young woman takes a deep breath in defeat, before looking into Lana's eyes once more, "I'm… pregnant."

"I knew-" Lana's eyes go wide, "Wait… what?!"

* * *

Lola has never been the best at sneaking up on people nor the fastest of her siblings- those honors go to Lucy and Lynn- and yet, when she suspects something, she watched just enough mafia movies to know how to eavesdrop on her siblings.

And Lana running off is no exception. Why isher older twin acting so strange? She just has to know! Now of course, it takes her a few minutes catch up to her, only to find Lana talking Lori.

Given her distance, she isn't really able to hear much of the conversation, but she sees Lana push back their eldest sister, much to her surprise, _"Interesting… I wouldn't what they're talking about…"_

"Fine, I'll tell you…" Lola hears Lori speak with a defeated tone, "I'm… pregnant."

Immediately, Lola's jaw drops in surprise, _"W-what?! Lori's gonna be having a baby?!"_ Yet, the surprise only takes a moment to pass. And when it does. Lola holds her hands close and squeals in excitement, before running off, _"I've gotta go tell the others!"_

* * *

"I'm pregnant…" Lori repeats, her voice filling with pain, "Are you happy now that you know?"

For a moment, Lana remains silent, unsure of just how to take the revelation, while Lori stands by with her heart beating faster than it has ever done before.

Yet, eventually the feeling passes and she shakes her head, "No Lori, that's not what I care about right now." She then turns back and steels her gaze.

Lori's heart sinks. The admission of her pregnancy was supposed to derail the conversation- moving it away from Lincoln's illness and over to the fact the she is currently an expectant mother. After all, their mother informing them of her latest pregnancy would always cause them all to drop what they were ding and begin preparing for their newest charge.

And yet, here she stands, her back against the machine that had provided her a drink and her little sister in front of her, urging the young woman to reveal the truth that she is desperate to keep, _"I have to keep it, for their sake!"_

Lana reels back and looks up to her, "Please Lori, please…" A soft, almost understanding heat fills her voice, "I can handle it! Please, I wanna help Lincoln! Don't you think I can do that?!"

Instead of answering, Lori instead remains silent, hoping that her younger sister would relent and walk away.

But, Lori of all people knows just how much Lana cares for her siblings.

With a solemn gaze, Lana shakes her head, "If you don't tell me the truth, then I'll just ask mom and dad about it." The six-year-old fights her voice softening, trying to keep up the illusion of control she had built this conversation. "And I don't think you'd want them to hear from us, do you?"

 _"That's an offer I can't refuse…"_ Lori takes a breath, before looking into Lana's eyes with a begging gaze, _"Only Lola would be able to do something like this usually…_ " Yet, Lori knows that now isn't the time to try and figure out how Lana pulled off something she had only seen her younger twin do properly.

And so, with a soft breath, she responds, "All right Lana, all right… I'll tell you the truth…" Her defeated tone turns into one of stern warning, "But please, you can't tell the others, ok?"

With a nod, Lana replies, "Fine, now can you please tell me what's going on around here?"

The young woman sighs, "Lincoln is sick"

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

"Girls!" Lola bursts into their motel room, excitement filling her voice, while her body trembles in anticipation, "I've got great news!"

Tiredly, Lincoln turns to her and asks, "What is it Lola?"

"Lori's pregnant!" She pulls her limbs in close, seemingly ready to squeal in joy again.

"R-really?!" Lincoln's eyes go wide in shock, "D-do you know how far along she is?!"

Lola shakes her head, "No, but she just told Lana!"

Immediately, Lincoln turns towards the rest of his siblings, "I wonder why she told her first…"

"Who cares?!" Leni runs over and picks up Lola, "We're gonna be aunts!" She holds her little sister close, "I'm gonna have to make baby clothes for her!"

"I sure hope Lori's not kid-in-me!" Luan puns, throwing her head back as she does so. "A prank like this would totally not be birth it!"

"We like, should totes get everything ready! Right Luna?" Leni then rushes over to her younger sister, with Lola hanging on for dear life.

"Leni! Let go of me!" Lola cries, but to no avail. Leni's excited grip holds onto her like a vice.

Yet, Luna doesn't respond, choosing instead to think for a moment, _"Lori, if you're pregnant… then what's the real reason we're on this trip?"_ She shakes her head, _"No… you'd never do something like this if it were just about you… Right?"_ She turns to Lincoln, unsure of what to say next.

Yet, it only takes Lincoln a moment to put his own fears to rest, _"Lori didn't invite Bobby and Ronnie Anne until the country fair, that means that she didn't know until then later…"_ He breathes a mental sigh in relief.

"Siblings, I believe that the best course of action is to remain calm." Lisa speaks up, "It is obvious that our eldest member is unwilling to divulge information such as that to all of us at this moment."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Luna raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Simple." Lisa adjusts her glasses, "We should prepare for a newborn. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Huh, ok then…" Lincoln climbs to his feet and stretches, "Well if it's ok with you guys, I'm gonna go and talk to Lori."

For a moment, the Louds hesitate to stop their only brother, though none actually go to do so.

* * *

"Lincoln's sick?!" Lana shouts, prompting Lori to grab the six-year-old and cover her mouth, hoping that she would not attract the attention of nearby patrons, and thankfully, she does not.

"Yes… he is…" Lori takes a breath in defeat, while taking her hand off her mouth.

"So why don't you give him some medicine?!"

The young woman hesitates in response. For years, she knew this day would come- when her little sisters would have to face the reality that everything they love would have to come to an end.

But she never expected to have to tell them so soon. And as morbid as she finds it, she wishes that one of her pets would have had to go first, that way there would be something to prepare her…

Much to her luck though, none had come before this moment.

With a soft sigh, Lori shakes her head, "Lana…. It's not like that…"

"What do you mean?!" Lana's once harsh, almost controlling voice fills with despair. "My teacher told me that doctors could do everything! That's true, isn't it?!"

 _"I wish that were true…"_ Lori squats down to her little sister's height, "I wish… I really do, but…" She fights the tears trying to pour out of her eyes, "The doctors tested Lincoln… there wasn't anything they could do for him besides give him medicine to numb the pain when it comes, and even then, it won't be enough soon…"

Lana remains silent and stares at the ground, unsure of what to do next.

"Lana… Lori…?" Lincoln walks over to the duo, concern filling his voice.

Almost immediately, Lana turns around and throws her arms around her ailing brother. She buries her head in his shirt, staining its pure orange fabric with her tears.

 _"This is all my fault…"_ Lincoln wraps his arms around his little sister, hoping to somehow protect her from a threat that would come no matter what he tried.

"I-I'm sorry Lincoln…" Lori sighs in defeat once more, "But… I wasn't able to keep the secret from her, no matter what I tried."

The ailing boy hesitates his response, "Well… it looks like we suck at keeping secrets, huh?"

"Yeah…" The eldest sister shamefully turns away from her siblings, "How are you feelin' Linc?"

"All right I guess…" Lincoln pauses for a moment, doing his best to ignore the aching pain beginning to fill his muscles, "You know you've got a problem too now…"

"What?" Lori raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Everyone knows you're pregnant now." The boy finishes, causing Lori's heart to race in surprise.

"Haha… very fun-" Lori's eyes go wide, _"Wait… I never told anyone about my pregnancy, besides Lisa because she's the one that found out…"_ She looks into Lincoln's eyes, "How did you know?"

"Because Lola told us." The white-haired boy responds, before sighing.

 _"N-no… They can't know yet! Nothing's ready!"_ The young woman begins to shiver in fear, though thankfully, Lincoln grabs her hand, snapping her back to reality before she has a full-blown panic attack.

"Lori… I've been thinking…" Lincoln hesitates, unsure if he should continue, "I think it's time we told everyone else the truth." He gives Lori a begging gaze.

Yet, Lori simply stands by, awestruck by his request and revelation, "B-but summer's not over yet!"

Lincoln sighs, "I know, I know… but… too many people know now and well, I don't wanna keep lying about being ok when it's obvious that I'm not…"

Lori hesitates as well, "Who knows now?" She begins to count on her fingers, "Lucy, Lana, Lisa, and me."

Lincoln calmly adds, "Luna does…"

And Lana finishes, "And Lynn too…"

 _"Maybe keeping the truth a secret wasn't a good idea after all…"_ Lori lets out one final breath, "The majority of out sisters know already… that leaves Lily, Lola, Luan and Leni as the only ones still in the dark…"

'I doubt any of them will take it well…" Lincoln's voice fills with worry, "Heck, from what I see right now, the only ones staying calm are you and Luna!"

"Taking it well?!" Lana breaks her and Lincoln's hug, "You're sick and you seem like you don't care about it at all! Why aren't you sad?! Why aren't you saying anything about it?!"

"Lana…" Lincoln takes care and squats down to her height. For a moment, he considers telling her about how he doesn't want them to worry and about the fear a sis-tornado trying to take care of him would bring. And yet, he finds himself simply looking away in shame, "It's because, well… I've been trying not to think about it much, you know… It's scary and I don't want you guys to worry about me."

"What do you mean?!" Lana flares her arms in surprise, "You're not even thinking about the fact that you're sick?! Great job Linc, now I'm even more worried about you!" And with that, she hugs him again, unwilling to let him go anywhere without her.

 _"…Maybe it's time we told them all."_ The young woman breathes carefully, "Have you been remembering to take your meds, Linc?"

"Of course, it's hard not to get caught while taking them, but I manage." The boy nods, "I haven't been able to take today's doses because… I have no privacy." He rubs the back of his head, "I don't think it'll be a good idea to go on, especially since some of the symptoms are popping up even with the medicine…"

 _"We don't have much of choice then…"_ And so, Lori takes one more deep breath, "Well then, it looks like we have no choice, we have to tell everyone… after one more stop, ok?"

Lincoln nods in agreement, "All right, I guess that's fine. Where are we going next?"

 ** _A Few Minutes Later…_**

"The circus?" Lori tilts her head in confusion.

"Yep!" Luan excitedly holds up a flyer, "Can we please go Lori, can we?!"

Lori gives a nonchalant shrug, "Sure I guess, no one has any objections?"

None of the Louds speak up.

"Great!" The eldest sibling claps her hands together, "Well then, if that's everything then we might as well-"

Yet, before she can finish, Leni speaks up sorting an excited smile, "By the way, Lori…"

"Yeah?" The older woman turns to her little sister and raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "What's up?"

Immediately, she holds up a small set of baby socks, "Do you think these will fit your baby?!"

Immediately, Lori's face goes red, "Well, uhh… I think those work!"

And before she knows it, her sisters-save for those that know the truth- are swarming her, bombarding her with questions about what is to come.

Taking the moment to relax, Lincoln simply glances around the room. Lisa is working on yet another experiment, Lana stares and holds him close, taking care to not allow her crying to be seen by the others. It is as if she is a lost puppy and he is her master. Lucy scribbles away in her notebook, no doubt about the brother whom had tried to hide the truth from her. Lynn simply stands by, her mind filling with countless thoughts- most of them focused on him. And Luna, she simply strums along, doing her best to fill the room with a soft, understanding air.

 _"This is all my fault…"_ Lincoln has to fight the urge to kick himself, _"Is ignorance truly bliss? Would everything be all right if not even I knew why I had that seizure?"_ He mentally sighs, _"I just hope they had fun while it lasted…"_

The rest of the day after that is uneventful, with the girls who don't know showering Lori with affection and wishing her luck as she becomes the first of them to follow in their own mother's footsteps.

Yet, the sisters who do know spend their time around their brother- caring for his every need to as best as they can. Though they do it in secret as to not worry those that do not know.

After it is all done, the Loud Family stands before an oversized circus tent, with Lori pulling the keys from Vanzilla, before moving to join her siblings, "All right ready for the show?"

"I'm circus excited to watch!" Luan throws her head back in laughter. "You guys get it?"

The Loud Siblings, of course, groan at the bad pun, before Lori speaks up.

"All right then, let's-" She tries to start, only for a certain sound to echo once more, cutting her off once again.

 ***Ring***

Quickly, Lori pulls out her phone and reads the caller ID, _"It's dad this time…_ "

"Who is it Lori?" Lynn asks, her voice filling with suspicion, _"It's probably mom and dad again…"_

"Just Bobby." Lori hastily replies, "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." Before she hops in Vanzilla and answers the phone.

"Lori! Where are you?!" The man asks.

"We're at a circus. We're about a day out from Royal woods." The young woman sheepishly replies.

"I see." The man hesitates for a moment, "How's Lincoln doing?"

"He's all right…" She hesitates, "Dad, why wasn't I able to call you guys?"

"Honey, for the past few days, our meeting place required us to hand over our phones for security reasons. We weren't able to get them back until yesterday night."

"Oh…" Lori considers telling him about the truth- about her pregnancy and about everything that's happened up to this point, though she decides against this. "All right, we should be home by tomorrow…" Before she hands up and sighs, _"This is all my fault…"_

* * *

From the outside, the circus tent doesn't seem like much- after all, it's jut a simply yellow tarp with red stripes coming down from the small point that holds the entire structure up.

But when they walk inside, they find a rather small stadium set-up, with large, concrete and metal hallways and passageways leading into the main auditorium- a small rounded platform surrounded by bleachers, and given just how long it took for them to come by and finally reach their seats, the entirety of it is filled up, with only a single seat open for Lori.

"I'm like, totes excited!" Leni can barely contain herself, only to pull out a pair of complete baby socks, "I even managed to finish the socks for Lori's Baby before we got here!"

"Yeah, this is gonna be high-flyin'!" Luan shouts, flaring her arms in excitement as she does so.

"I can't wait." Lincoln quips, before holing his aching arm. A moment of pain passes over him, before his eyes begin to go wide in the realization, _"I still haven't taken my meds…"_

"You ok, Lincoln?" Lucy leans in close, hoping that the roaring crowd would be enough to hide her whispers, and thankfully they are. "You look like something's bothering you.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine, really." The young boy holds himself, _"I forgot to take my meds this morning… that could only mean that this is what they were holding off."_ He stands up, "Hey guys, I'm gonna go use it."

"All right bro. Want us to come with?" Luna asks, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

Yet, Lincoln simply waves her off, "Nah, I'll be fine." Before he fights his way through the crowd and heads off.

 ** _One Hour Later…_**

Lincoln sits on the toilet bowl of the circus bathroom, his arms left loosely at his sides, while his back is propped up against the pipe that would take wastes into the sewers. _"Pain… that was one of the symptoms, right?"_

The young boy leans forward, _"If I stay here any longer… someone's-"_

"Lincoln! You in here?" A familiar voice calls out. "You've missed the show!"

The boy's heart sinks. He tries to respond, though only a pained moan escapes his mouth, "Oh…"

And with that, Lincoln knows that the lie is blown. Instantly, the stall door opens, revealing a certain, blonde-haired older sister now sporting an expression of concern, "Lincy, are you ok?!"

 _"I hope that face rash hasn't come back…"_

1 3-12-15-21-4 8-1-14-7-19 15-22-5-18 20-8-5 6-1-13-9-12-25. 12-9-6-5 1-14-4 4-5-1-20-8 19-20-1-14-4 19-9-4-5 2-25 19-9-4-5.

 **A/N And with that, the beginning of the end has begun! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As always, feel free to PM me, answer the poll and join the Loud House Fanfic Discord if you'd like to talk!**


	16. Everyone Knows

**A/N Man, the sorcery continues. I have something going on with my throat and a possible cold, but I still managed to get this out on time! I've decided to ditch the old method for writing these chapters (As the amount of time required to do so didn't really help this story's quality) and go back to how I used to write! And I've planned out this story to completion! I hope you guys enjoy! And I thank Sesquipedalian Numeral for helping me!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Sixteen: Everyone Knows

"Welcome one and all to the Little Circus on the Prairie!" The circus ringmaster declares, raising his hand to emphasize his point, "My team and I have worked tirelessly to produce the greatest show we can put on for you all! We hope that you'll enjoy it to the fullest extent that you can!"

With that, the man pulls out a small baton and raises it. "Now, without further ado, it is time for us to begin! Please, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!" With that, he motions towards a set of platforms hanging just above the crowd, "For our first act, our Trapeze Magicians will astound you with their limber prowess and stunning bravery!"

The Louds watch in curiosity as the spotlights move up to focus upon the duo. Both are clad in yellow clown gear decorated with all four-card suite symbols.

"Well from the looks of it, they're gonna be a card of a show!" Luan giggles, causing Lola to facepalm in frustration.

"I wonder what they're gonna do!" Leni quips, shaking Lily as she does so, "Don't you Lily?"

"Poo-poo!" The baby watches in excitement, before the two magicians jump up, grab their swinging bars and begin their act.

A hush falls upon the crowd, before the duo let go and swing in the air for a moment, only to disappear into a cloud of smoke soon after.

"What the?!" Leni's eyes go wide in shock, "They're invisible now!"

"Haha!" Luan laughs, "Now that's what I call acting fast!" She puns, only for the two magicians to reappear soon after, now using ribbons as propellers to float above their platforms.

"Heh, I might be able to use that in one of my routines." Lola crosses her arms with a smile.

Then, as soon as the two magicians finally land, they both bow, eliciting thunderous applause from the audience.

"Yay! That was totes so cute!" Leni lifts up her baby sister and turns her, "What did ya think?!"

Lily claps in response. There was no doubt that such a simple, yet flashy entrance was more than enough to grab their attention. The baby then rubs her chin, before speaking in baby gibberish for a moment, "Poo-poo?"

"You wanna know where Lori is?" Leni rubs her chin, "Well, she's like, probably talking to Bobby right-"

"H-hey guys, I'm sorry I'm late." Lori whispers, pushing her way into the crowd of her siblings as she does so. "Did I miss anything?"

"Only, like, the totes coolest tricks I've ever seen." Leni gives her older sister a small wave with a wide smile.

The young woman takes a breath, "All right. Well, I got everyone drinks, so…" She then motions for her siblings to come and grab some before the tray would fall from her arms. Thankfully, she is able to manage, and before they know it, they're back to watching the act, with her now sitting next to Luna.

A moment of silence passes with that, the siblings choosing to watch the act as it unfolds… though some pay more attention than most.

" _Everything is falling apart…"_ Lori mentally sighs, before turning towards her siblings. _"But at least they're having some fun before we head home."_

"Pst, Lori." Luna nudges her back to reality.

"Huh?" Lori does her best not to cry out in surprise, before she leans in closer to her sister, "What is it Luna?"

Quickly, the younger girl checks just who is sitting next to her, before leaning in close to Lori and whispering, "You look like something's buggin' ya…" She looks up to her sister with a begging gaze. "What's going on?"

"… _It's not like there's much left to hide…"_ Lori hesitates, before taking a breath and answering, "Well… mom and dad want us to come home soon is all…"

Luna breathes a mental sigh of relief. "That's good… that's good… Maybe then we'll be able to take better care of Lincoln's… condition if mom and dad are around to help out and stuff."

"Yeah… I bet." Lori sighs, before looking back at the show, though she finds herself unable to focus on it much. " _Everything that's happened… is my fault."_ She looks down and fights the urge to tear up, _"I wanted to protect them all from the truth… to make sure that their possibly last vacation with Lincoln would be the most memorable… and yet, despite everything I've tried and everything I've done…"_ Lori glances at her younger siblings.

Lana and Lynn sit next to each other, both blankly watching the show go on, while Luna does her best to strum her guitar quietly, her mind deep in thought. Lisa, of course, just writes in her notebook, seemingly not caring about what she would call "inane human emotions"… though Lori suspects that if given the chance to look inside, she would find plenty of evidence to the contrary. As for Lucy, she simply hides in nearby shadows, no doubt taking the time to try to write down her pained feelings.

Slowly, the young woman's gaze moves to that of those who do not know- those four sisters continuing to smile in awe while the rest of the family can't find the desire to do so. _"I wish I could be able to keep them smiling forever… But, when they find out… they'll… they'll probably hate me."_ She leans back against the folding seat, _"If it wasn't for me being so weak then… then maybe they wouldn't have to suffer…"_ She fights the urge to cry, _"I'm sorry…"_

And with that, she averts her eyes and continues to think, while trying to move her thoughts to her feelings about the show. Though of course, efforts proved fruitless. In the end all she can think about is her brother, and how her family is taking the reality of their situation.

 ** _One Hour Later…_**

The show eventually comes to an end, with the Louds choosing to wait a few moments for the rest of the crowd to empty. When they do, Lori leads the pack, bringing the loud siblings to the front entrance, before stopping to do a headcount.

"Nine… ten…" Lori sighs, "Uhh… girls, where's Lincoln?"

"He, like, had to go to the bathroom!" Leni awkwardly holds her crotch, doing her best to hold her bladder as she does so, "I really have to use it!"

For a moment, Lori's heart begins to race while her eyes go wide in concern. "When'd he go?"

"An hour ago!" The young woman turns and bolts off, "I'll go check on him!"

"Wait, Leni-" Lori reaches out to grab her sister, only to realize the compromising position it would put her in. _"I can't let her or the others know just yet… even if there's no point…"_

"Yeah Lori?" The young woman quickly turns, though it's obvious from the look on her face she wouldn't be able to hold it any longer, before having an accident.

Lori puts on a sheepish smile, "Be quick please, we have to pack up tonight!"

Quickly, Leni nods in understanding, before running off to find Lincoln.

" _If Lincoln's really in there for what I think he is… then maybe it is time that everyone learned the truth…"_ And with that, Lori sighs, before leaning up against a nearby wall, and allowing the rest of her siblings to talk amongst themselves.

* * *

It takes Leni a few minutes to do her business- after all, even though there's only so much soda she can hold in from an oversized can, there's still plenty to keep her occupied! When she finally finishes, she steps out of the bathroom and stretches for a moment. _"All right then, where's Lincy?"_

She looks around for a moment and thinks, _"I wonder if he's still in the bathroom…"_ Carefully, she sticks her head into the men's room and glances around for a moment. Despite what the shoddy exterior of the circus would imply, the bathroom is actually surprisingly clean, with hard tile floors and stalls made of stainless steel.

"Lincoln? Are you in here?" Leni's concerned voice fills the almost empty room. "You missed the show!"

"Ugh…" The lone occupant moans in pain.

Immediately, Leni's eyes go wide in surprise, "Lincy! Are you ok?!" she rushes into the room and quickly finds the stall where her brother is hiding. Then, with a single quick motion, she throws its door open, revealing her ailing brother.

And with that, Lincoln's eyes soften, "H-hey Leni…" Lincoln tries to lean forward in his toilet seat- desperate to put on a strong façade for his sister, though in the end, the best he can manage is leaning up against the stall, "What's up?

Leni hesitates for a moment, allowing her eyes to soften. "Aww Lincy."

"W-what?" the boy's voice fills with panic.

"You're sick!" The young woman puts her hands on her hips for a moment, before leaning in and scooping him up in her arms.

"N-no I'm not." Lincoln tries to stammer, "I-I'm just… I ate too much popcorn."

Leni's eyes soften in concern for her brother. "But Lincoln… you didn't eat any popcorn! Lily and Lola finished your tub!" She then leans in close to him, "And your face is red too!"

"But, but-", Lincoln tries to counter, but before he can even finish his thought, Leni turns and bolts out of the bathroom, with him still in her arms.

Within moments, she reaches the group of her siblings, all eyes pointed expectantly at the two approaching. "Guys! I found Linky!" Her voice fills with concern as she stops in front of them, "H-he doesn't look ok!"

"What happened?" Lori quickly approaches the duo, glancing at her brother as she does so.

"I don't know!" Leni frantically responds, "I, like, went in the bathroom and he was sitting on the toilet! It looks like he had been there the whole time!"

Quickly, their four-year-old sister rushes over, "Please, allow me to see him." She does her best to hide the worry filling her voice, "I would like to run a diagnostics test on him."

Leni nods, before quickly lowering him to her height.

For a moment, Lisa tries to examine her brother. She pulls out her notebook and flips to a random page, before asking, "Lincoln, I need you to be complete honest with me."

The boy gives a small nod in response.

"What are your areas of distress?" The young scientist asks, fear filling her voice.

"Everything…" He responds weakly, no doubt the exhaustion he had been starving for the past several days had finally come to bite him.

" _A Face rash… fatigue, pain."_ Lisa read, her mind slowly beginning to race. _"H-he can't be this far along… h-he had the seizure just last week!"_ Her hands begin to tremble, while her eyes go wide in realization, _"The doctors… they must've prescribed medication to stifle the onset of these symptoms."_

"What's going on with him, Lisa?" Leni's voice fills with concern.

"Yeah! Why's Lincoln like that?!" Lola flares her arms in an attempt to emphasize her point, while Luan comes in closer.

"Boy, this looks like quite the…" Luan starts, trying to come up with a punchline to her setup, and yet, finds nothing to hit with. She shakes her head, "What's going on with him?!"

"He…" The prodigy stands up straight and turns to face them, "H-he is…"

"He's having a flare up." Lori cuts her off with a sigh.

Immediately, Leni tilts her head, "A flare up? But he's not on fire!"

Lori shakes her head, "No, Lincoln's…" she sighs, "Look… I'll explain everything later but, right now…" She turns to Lynn and Lana, "I need you two to go to the car and grab Lincoln's backpack, inside is an orange container of medicine." She looks at her ailing brother, "The pills inside should help him out…"

"Lori!" Lola grabs her older sister, "What's going on here?! Why's Lincoln sick?!"

The young woman hesitates. _"There's no use in trying to hide it now, is there?"_ She sighs, "Leni, Lola, Luan…" She glances at her infant sister. "Lily…" her voice fills with a begging hope, as if she silently hopes that they would end the conversation before it even begins.

Though, given her family, she knows that there is no getting out of this.

"Remember when Lincoln… passed out and hit his head a few days ago?" She chokes up, "And when we went to the hospital?"

A moment of silence passes between the siblings. Luan and Lola's eyes go wide, while Leni raises an eyebrow in confusion, "What are you…"

Lori's expression softens, _"I knew this would happen eventually, but… I'm not ready_ …" Before her gaze falls upon her ailing brother, "Lincoln is sick…" She finishes, "He's really sick."

Another moment of silence passes between the siblings.

A lone tear begins to make its way down Lincoln's cheek, while other sisters soon follow. For the past several days, those that knew had been putting on a masquerade of sorts- hiding the truth behind fake smiles. And now, it is time to finally reveal what lies behind the veil…

And yet, none of them are for the truth.

"W-what?" Luan responds, despair filling her voice.

Lori glances around for a moment, expressions of pain beginning to form on her siblings faces. "There's…. I'll tell you guys more when we get home…" She shakes her head, "We… it'll be better if we say more if… we shouldn't talk about this here…"

After that, he siblings stand in silence, until Lynn and Lana finally return. They give Lincoln his medicine, and without wasting another moment, head back to the motel.

 ** _Another Hour Later…_**

Within the hour, the lone boy of the Louds rests peacefully in one of the two motel beds. His face rest had dissipated by this point, making it seem as if he did not just have a severe flare up.

Lori takes one last glance and Vanzilla for the night, before she carefully closes the door to their motel room with a sigh, before turning to her waiting siblings, "All right everyone... I think it's time I told you all the truth.

"You better tell us what's going on Lori!" Lola flares her arms and approaches her eldest sister, "What's going on?! What do you mean that Lincoln is sick?!"

For a moment, Lori hesitates. _"I have to be gentle about this..."_ she sighs, before pushing Lola away, ever so slightly. With wavering eyes, she answers, "Back at the hospital... the doctors told us that Lincoln's seizure was caused by Lupus, an incurable condition..."

"Uhh… Lupus?" Luan tilts her head in confusion.

"It's… a complicated disease…" She does her best not to stumble over her words, "But, the doctor told us that, well… Lincoln's body is attacking itself and there's nothing we can do about it.

"So what?!" Lola flares her arms, "Even if it can't be cured, the doctors could make him better right?! That's what medicine is for, **hello**!"

"That's… that's the thing." Lori awkwardly rubs the back of her head, "The medicine doesn't do much besides prevent his flare ups…"

"So like... can't they help him?" Leni's voice fills with despair.

Lori rubs her arm, "No... there really isn't much they could do besides, well... give those pills." Her mind flashes to the image of her brother, downing a random batch of pills every few hours just to keep his body from attacking itself, _"And one day, those meds aren't gonna be enough…"_

"Don't give me that, Lori!" Lola rushes up and jumps on her eldest sister, pulling her shirt as she does so, "We have a genius sister who somehow managed to create portals through space and time! Can't she do anything?!"

Lori can see the pained tears beginning to fill Lola's desperate eyes.

"I wish." Lisa shakes her head. "But from what I have studied, Lincoln's condition was caused by a DNA mutation in vitro... or should I say, while our mother was still pregnant with him."

"Don't give me that!" Desperation fills Lola's voice as she turns to the others. "And you guys! Why aren't you panicking?! Why is it like you don't even care about him?! Our brother is sick you know!"

"Yeah!" What's going on with all of you?" Luan steps out from the crowd, an angry frown ever present on her face.

Lily begins to swing her arms around and adds her angry baby gibberish to the argument, though Leni responds by calmly rubbing her hair and giving a soothing smile, _"My little Lincy…. Is sick…"_ She backs over to the door, "I… I need some space."

And before anyone can stop her, she closes the room door behind her, cutting her off from the rest of her siblings.

The remaining girls look amongst themselves for a moment, before Luna turns to them with a solemn expression, "Because we already knew."

Instantly, a fire fills Lola's eyes, "Even you, Lana?!"

The young plumber nods though she finds herself unable to look back at her twin, "I overheard Lori talking to mom and dad about it..."

Immediately, Lola's face goes red and she clenches her fists, before she slowly turns back to face Lori. It is as if she is a bomb ready to go off if anyone says something that she disapproves of. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Because..." Lori pauses, careful to choose her next words, "Lincoln and I decided after the doctors told him he's..." she gulps, "dying, we decided that it'd be a good idea to go on this trip, so we could all enjoy the end of summer before we told you all the truth." Her gaze begins to wander, jumping from the pained expressions of all of her sisters. _"But... we failed..."_

With that, the girls simply continue to look towards each other, hoping that someone would come up with an idea for just what to do next.

In that moment however, it was painfully obvious that none of them had a suggestion.

"So, uhh... where are mom and dad?" Lynn breaks the silence with an uneasy tone.

"They answered the other day… I told them about Lincoln's condition and well…" Lori rubs the back of her head. "They… they want us to come home."

"I guess it's settled then..." Luna strums her guitar, while she speaks with a defeated tone. "There isn't much we can do now besides listen to them."

"But..." Lori speaks up to argue, though Lisa steps toward to cut her off.

"As much as it pains me to say this, I must concur." Lisa shoves her notebook under her arm and sighs, "Lincoln's condition was severe enough that he found himself in a state of paralysis for an entire hour..." her voice trails off.

"What if we aren't around the next time that happens..." Lana looks at the ground.

The girls can't help, but shiver at the idea.

"What if... he's hurt, but because of the pain he feels, he can't even call for help?" Lynn is barely able to finish her thought, before shaking her head in an attempt to purge her thoughts.

"Heck… what will we do if something else happens while we're out?" Luna sighs, "One hospital trip a vacation is bad, but two? That… I don't think it will end well.

"Well then it's settled," Lori sighed. "We leave tomorrow..." she glances at the motel room, "We should... pack our things…" She then looks back at them, "please... enjoy yourselves... it's what Lincoln wants." The young woman then steps past her sisters, "I'm just gonna... go think for a bit, ok?" Before she heads out the door and over to Vanzilla.

"All right." Luna replies, before stepping over to their luggage and pulling a shirt out from it. "Come on girls... let's get some sleep." And with that, they entered the motel room once more.

None of them received a good night's sleep.

 _ **The Next Day…**_

"Ugh..." Lincoln slowly opens his eyes before weakly turning to look out the window... only to immediately cover them once more when he finds the harsh morning sun glaring in his eyes, _"Its morning already?"_

Slowly, his gaze wanders over to the digital clock on the nightstand, and his eyes go wide. _"I-it's ten o'clock already?! Where are the girls?! Why aren't they awake yet?!"_

Immediately, his heart begins to race, and he tries to pull himself from the bed... only for four small hands to hold him down, _"What the?"_ he looks down, only to realize that Lola and Lana are protectively holding onto him- no doubt after his flare up they wouldn't want to leave his side.

 _"If they're here then... where's everyone else?"_ His eyes start wandering across the room, though given that there are two sisters attached to him on both sides, that is no easy task.

He finds Luna sitting in the reclining chair, her hands still held protectively over her favorite acoustic guitar, while Lynn sleeps on the nearby floor, curled up like a puppy. He finds Luan and Leni sharing the next bed over, with Luan clutching Mr. Coconuts.

Lucy, of course, is nowhere to be found.

As for Lisa... he finds her still working diligently at the motel desk- test tubes filled with various chemicals and solutes of all colors ready to be used in her experiment rest nearby.

"H-hey Lisa," The young boy greets.

Immediately, the green- clad toddler turns towards her brother, "Ahh, Lincoln, you are awake." She hops off her perch and approaches him, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine." The boy responds, "But, Lisa... I think you need some rest."

"Nonsense." Lisa waves him off, "I-" she yawns, "I will not allow my body's desire to sleep to impede upon the discovery of a cure for your condition"

 _"If I wasn't sick, she wouldn't be pushing herself like this..."_ Lincoln sighs, "Please Lisa... you have bags under your eyes! You may be a genius, but... you're still four, you know."

The young scientist waves him of, "Do not worry elder brother, do not, please. I will manage." She sighs and clutches her hands, "I will..."

Yet, before she can even finish, she collapses to the floor and begins to snore softly.

 _"Everyone…I don't deserve them… I'm sick and they all decided to stay up just to watch over me…"_ with that thought, Lincoln can't help, but begin to tear up.

 ** _Meanwhile…._**

*Ring* Lori's phone sounds off once more, its soft echo resonating through the Loud Family's van.

"Huh?" Lori groggily awakens from her slumber and starts rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"

*Ring*

"Oh... that." She forces herself upright and grabs her phone, _"Thank god it's a text."_ before she reads, "Honey, where are you?!"

With a sigh, Lori starts tapping on the phone. "We're planning on heading back today. The girls know about Lincoln's condition." And with a quick tap of a button, she sends her message off, before shoving her phone in her pocket. _"When I get the chance, I have to ask them about what the heck their meeting was about... it sounded like some top secret stuff..."_ She shakes her head, _"But that's not priority right now. Lincoln is."_

 _She then leans back in her seat,"I almost forgot how uncomfortable Vanzilla is to sleep in at night…"_ before she turns, pushes her way out of the family van and approaches their motel room, _"I just hope the girls are holding up all right..."_

With a soft swipe, she pushes her way into the room, "H-hey guys, is everyone all right?"

Yet, no one answers, _"They must all still be asleep..."_

"Hey," A soft voice greets, causing the young woman to turn towards the source- her brother, propped up against the nearby wall, with his right hand in his pocket and a partially empty water bottle in his left hand. Despite the fact that everyone already knows the truth, he still finds himself trying to hide from his sisters when he takes his medicine.

"Oh Lincoln!" Hope begins to fill the young woman's voice, "You're awake!"

The boy nods. "Yeah... I am..." his voice trails off, while he remains unable to look his sister in the eyes.

Lori's gaze softens at Lincoln's aversion to eye contact. "How are you holding up?"

The boy chooses not to respond, instead staring at the ground deep in thought.

"If this is about what happened-" the young woman tries to start, though her brother cuts her off.

"Everyone knows now..." he looks away and crosses his arms. "The one thing we were trying to stop..."

Lori places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Come on Lincoln... it- it's not gonna be that bad..."

"Everyone stayed up awake last night because they were so worried about me..." he turns and glances through the window into their room. "Lisa... she passed out from exhaustion when I woke up..."

Lori chokes up on her words. As much as they don't want to admit it, Lori knows that whenever Lincoln was sick, the Loud girls would do everything in their power to make him feel better- no matter what ended up happening to them in the meantime. _"I remember the time he was sick with the flu... we would end up working all day and night until he felt better..."_ she slowly runs her hand through his soft white hair. "W-we just want to make sure you feel better."

"I know... I know..." he looks away, "But you heard the doctor and you saw how severe my symptoms can get! If it wasn't for the medicine, I'd probably be having a seizure right now!"

 _"He's probably right..."_ Lori sighs. "H-have you enjoyed the vacation so far?"

"I guess," Lincoln steps forward, "Though... maybe it would've been better if some of us didn't know…" he gulps, "…the truth about why we're on it..."

And with that, he begins to head off. "I'm gonna take a walk around... ok?"

Lori nods in understanding, "Ok... if you need help just call."

Lincoln chooses not to respond. And before they know it, he's out of sight, leaving the lone young pregnant woman to her own thoughts. _"I'm a failure..."_

Slowly, she turns and steps into the motel room. _"I've failed my brother... I've let them all down..."_ carefully, she steps over her sleeping siblings.

"Hey Lori, how are you?" Leni tilts her head in curiosity, "And how's Lincoln?"

The eldest sister turns to her with a soft smile, "We're fine Leni, really… Lincoln's just out for a bit… What are you doing?"

Leni scratches her head and looks at her work in disappointment, "Well… since you're having a baby, I thought that I'd be a great idea to make the cutest little dress for her to wear, then I remembered that you could also have a boy so…" She holds up a small piece of cloth, "So I decided to make a shirt for them…"

"T-that's literally great Leni." The young woman puts on a pained expression in response.

Leni pouts though, "Then I remembered Lincoln's sick… so I decided that I should make him a sweater." She shakes her head, "But I don't know what I should make first!"

"Make Lincoln's sweater first…" She pats her ever-growing abdomen, "My baby isn't coming for a few more months, but Lincoln needs you right now."

Immediately, Leni's eyes go wide in surprise, "You're right! Aww, poor Lincy!" She hops to her feet and begins rummaging though her supplies, "I've gotta make him the best sweater ever! That way he'll never get cold!"

"You do that." Lori sighs, before turning and walking away, "If you or anyone else needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, ok? But please… I really don't wanna be bothered right now."

"All right Lori!" The ditzy sister then hops back in her seat, before beginning to nit with orange yarn.

 _"And now... the one thing we wanted them to have... is gone..."_ The young woman finds herself tearing up as she enters the bathroom and locks herself inside. _"You saw what he looked like! He looked broken, in pain! And you did nothing to help him!"_

" _What's the point of going on?"_

* * *

"Hey, hey Luna, wake up." Leni nudges her little sister, concern filling her expression.

"Huh?" Slowly, the musician blinks back to consciousness, only for her older sister to hold up a small set of socks in front of her

"Luna, what do you think?!" She smiles at her work, "I made these socks so Lincoln's feet wouldn't get cold while I worked on his sweater!"

Luna takes a quick glance at Leni's handiwork, before simply nodding and rubbing her head, "They look all right to me Leni."

Leni immediately hugs Luna, "Yay! If you like it, them I'm sure Lincoln's gonna."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will." Tiredly, she forces herself to her feet and glances around the room, "Where is he anyways?"

"So like, Lori just came in and went to the bathroom." Leni shrugs before waving her hands around, "So I guess he went out for a walk or something."

" _He's not taking the fact that we all know, that well."_ She sighs and shakes her head, _"I don't blame him though…"_ She then stands up straight, "All right Leni, I just hope he's gonna feel better."

"Me too…" Leni pouts, "I stayed up trying figure out what to make, but I just couldn't decide, ya know!" She stares at the orange socks, "Should I make baby socks or a sweater for Lincoln? Then Lori came in and told me to make the sweater, but I already started the socks!"

"So you made socks for Lincoln?" Luna raises an eyebrow, _"Is she… taking the truth well?"_

"Yep!" Leni cheerfully responds, "So like, I wanna make Lincoln a sweater, but I don't know how much time I have to do it."

Luna rubs her chin, "Well, since Lori's probably taking a shower and Lincoln's goin' for a morning stroll, I'd say about an hour or two."

Leni smiles, "That's plenty of time!" She turns and hops back in her seat, "I'm gonna get straight to work!"

"You do that." Luna sighs, before walking over to the small kitchen area, _"At least someone's still able to smile…"_ She turns on the water and splashes some in her face, _"What the heck did I even do last night?"_ Slowly, her thoughts move to the events of the night prior, _"After we told everyone the truth about Lincoln… I… stayed up just trying to preoccupy myself with music, right?"_

She shakes her head, _"I don't even remember…"_ She sighs, _"Though… everyone did stay up late last night…"_ She rubs her head, _"The twins just kept hugging Lincoln, Luan stared at the wall, Leni was knitting… what else?"_

For a moment, she glances around the room, allowing her gaze to fall upon an open vent, _"I guess that's where Lucy's been…"_ She sighs, before leaning over to it, taking the moment to listen ever so carefully.

"Zzz."

" _Lucy fell asleep in the vents again…"_ Luna shakes her head, _"Well… at lest we're gonna be heading home. Maybe we'll be able to get a break from everything that way…"_

"Poo-poo!" Lily crawls over and grabs for Luna, prompting the young woman to lift her up.

"Hey Lily, you're up early." Luna does her best to speak with a soothing tone.

Lily smiles and flares her arms, before speaking in random baby gibberish.

"You wanna go for a walk?" She tilts her head, prompting the infant to nod, "Poo-poo!"

" _Maybe a walk is just what I need…"_ She glances at her still-sleeping siblings, _"I just need to clear my head."_ And with that, she nods, "All right Lily, I'll take you for a walk."

"Yay!" Lily claps in excitement, before Luna approaches the door.

"Hey Leni, I'm gonna take Lily out for a walk, ok?" Luna turns to the slightly older blonde.

Leni nods, "Ok then! Just remember to be back soon!" Before she returns to knitting Lincoln's sweater.

" _I just hope that Lori's doing all right as well…"_ And with that, Luna steps out of the room.

* * *

Lori slowly takes the chance to look at herself in the mirror. Her once bright, soft blonde hair was now rustled. Her tank top was dirty while her shorts were put on unevenly. There were bags under her eyes, while she was unable to stand upright from exhaustion. And from the size of her growing abdomen, she definitely had put on some weight.

" _Why are you even going on?!"_ a voice shouts- the same one that had pushed her to try and win Clyde back all those months ago.

Her own voice.

 _"They need me, that why."_ Lori leans up against the sink. _"I- I may be failing to keep them happy, but..."_ her thoughts train off.

 _"But what?! You failed as a sister! Your brother is dying and your family is worried about him! Not only that, but you're pregnant too! What are you gonna do to take care of yourself for your baby and your brother while he waits to lie in his death bed?!"_

Lori hesitates with her response. _"I don't know..."_ she starts to tear up, with soft droplets landing in the bathroom sink. _"I just don't know..."_

 _"Hmph, maybe you really are worthless after all."_

And with that, Lori finds herself falling to her knees and curling up against the tub. allowing her to cry into her knees.

 _"I failed you Lincoln... I- I'm sorry…"_ the young woman sobs as tears lands on her knees.

"Hey Lori, you in there?!" A weary voice catches her off guard. "I really gotta use the bathroom!"

 _"Pull yourself together Lori."_ The young woman forces herself to her feet, "Yeah... in almost done in here! Just, uhh, let me wash my face!"

 _"Yeah, maybe you'll be able to cleanse yourself of the failure that is your life"_

She splashes herself a few times with the water, hoping to get rid herself of the tears she had begun to finally shed for her brother. _"I have to stay strong... for all of them."_ She reminds herself, _"I'm their older sister and I have to act like I have everything under control... even when I don't."_

She sighs with that, before turning and stepping out of the bathroom. "Hey everyone..."

The girls look at themselves and Lori for a moment, each sporting a begging gaze. Before she simply walks over and steps out of the room once more, leaving everyone to her own devices.

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

" _This is all my fault…"_ Lincoln holds his hands behind his head as he walks along, his eyes focused upon the ground ahead. _"Now the girls are gonna suffer and it's all my fault!"_

He clenches his fist, before sending it into a nearby hotel wall. _"Dangit! Why am I such a failure?! I couldn't keep a secret for more than a week or something!"_ He waits for a moment, hoping that some voice will respond, though of course, he is only along with his thoughts. _"Ugh…"_ He turns and continues to walk with that. _"And now everyone knows…"_

Slowly, Lincoln finds himself strolling through a nearby park. There aren't too many people around at the moment- save for a few mothers pushing their children along in their carriages and elderly people feeding the pigeons. _"Lori's probably gonna be doing that when her baby finally comes in…"_

Slowly, Lincoln finds himself taking a seat in one of the empty benches. His wandering eyes fall upon a few young children, rushing around playing with a bright red ball.

" _To think we've been on vacation for so long… I've almost gotten homesick…"_ He sighs, and looks down at the ground ahead. Random people walk around him as he does so- none of them approaching the lone boy. _"How did we even end up here?"_

He leans back on the bench. _"We… went to Aloha Beach last week… Heh… I remember it took some convincing to get everyone to agree to it all."_ He can't help but chuckle at the memory. _"Then… I had that seizure… and ended up in the hospital…"_

He sighs in defeat. _"I ended up in the hospital and… then Lori decided that it would be a good idea to go on a road trip."_ Slowly, his mind begins to wander to memories of the random places they had gone to over the past several days. _"First we went to a county fair… then Dairyland, right? We hit the mall at least once, and then went camping!"_ His gaze softens, filling with pain, _"But… that's where Lucy told me she knew…"_

He pauses for a moment, _"And because she was crying there… Luna listened in and found out the truth…"_ He mentally kicks himself. _"No doubt because Lucy was acting weird, Lynn got suspicious too…"_ His heart sinks. _"And then… we went to the poetry club…"_ He gives a soft smile, _"I was at least able to make Lucy happy for a bit… but since she's been staying out of sight lately… I don't know…"_

Soft tears begin to fill his eyes. _"And now… everyone's so worried about me that… I don't even know what to do anymore!"_ He buries his head in his knees. _"What am I gonna do? Lori told me to keep calm but… I just don't think that's possible anymore… We're going home, and the only thing we're gonna take back with us are painful memories…"_ _In that moment, all Lincoln could do is sob._

" _You know… my brother once told me that it is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves…"_ A random thought crosses his mind. Slowly, the boy raises his head. _"Where did I hear that from?"_

Once more, his mind begins to wander- to the night after he learned the truth about his condition. _"Sambell…"_ Slowly, his thoughts begin to focus upon the image of a white-haired girl. _"S-she and I were the only children in that hospital ward at the time…"_ He hits his head for a second, trying to remember more. _"She had to have surgery or something…"_

He looks up at the bright blue morning sky. _"And even though she had to get ready for her surgery on her head… she decided to come by and take me up to the roof of our hospital…" Lincoln chuckles. Yes, it was odd climbing up to the roof of a building for no reason other than to talk, but a part of Lincoln enjoyed that night. Enjoying having someone other than his sisters to talk to- who just so happened to be going through a hard time as well!_

" _Don't let your condition define you…"_ Those words resonate in his mind as he slowly focuses his gaze on the children. As much as he wishes to move from the scene, he finds himself taking it in instead. Four children run around the open field, simply tossing a ball amongst themselves while trying to run for an arbitrary point to another.

Slowly, an idea begins to fill his mind, while he can feel his heart begin to race. _"I'm sick all right… and I can't do anything about it…"_

Another thought pops up, hope filling its tone. " _So what? Your destiny is what you make it!"_ Lincoln's gaze softens, _"Not in the stars to hold my destiny…"_ He smiles, "Life really is strange like this. I may be sick, but… maybe I could at least make our last day of summer as memorable as I can, right?"

He hops to his feet and turns, _"After all, the moment we come back, everything's gonna get complicated."_ And with that, the boy bolts back to the motel. _"I just hope the girls are willing to take a risk with a flare up…"_

Of course, he already knows the answer to that, but he continues onwards anyway. _"Lets end this vacation on a memorable note!"_ _Then, his gaze softens._

 _"Thank you Sambell…"_

23-8-5-14 19-21-13-13-5-18 5-14-4-19 14-5-23 3-8-1-12-12-5-14-7-5-19 2-5-7-9-14. 20-8-15-21-7-8 5-22-5-14 20-8-5 2-5-19-20 15-6 21-19 6-9-14-4 9-20 8-1-18-4 20-15 12-5-20 7-15.

 **A/N Man, I felt like my old self while writing this chapter! That's flippin' awesome! I hope you guys enjoyed! And see ya all in about a week! As always, feel free to PM me, and to join the Loud House fanfiction discord! And great news, I'm working on another one-shot for next week! (No, it won't be rated M).**


	17. The End Of Summer

**A/N Welp, I thought this was gonna be out last week, but my editor found so many issues with the chapter at the time that I realized I needed to work on this a bit, before I sent it out. That, and I'm working on a new one shot involving all of the sisters and Lincoln! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And I thank Sesquipedalian Numeral for everything he's done to help me!**

Chapter Seventeen: The End Of Summer

 _"I have to convince the girls to stay, even if it's just for one more day."_ Lincoln's mind races faster than it ever has before, _"I just hope the medicine can stop me from flaring up again!"_ He mind begins to cloud with though, _"What if the dosage is not enough? What if I do end up doubled over in pain again?!"_ He shakes he head, purging the thoughts, _"No, I can't worry about that right now. I have to make the most of the last day of summer and I won't stop until I do!"_

Without hesitation, the young boy dodges the oncoming strollers and ducks through the many men, women and children who had decided to enjoy a simple day at the park, _"Don't give up Lincoln, time is of the essence!"_

"Yo Lincoln!" A soft voice calls out, causing the young boy to stop in his tracks and turn to face the source- his older sister carrying their youngest sibling in her arms, "What's with the rush bro?"

Lincoln takes a soft breath with that, "Luna, I think I know what we can do on our last day here."

The young musician raises her eyebrows in interest, "Uhh, what are you talkin' about?"

" _Just be calm and don't overdo it…"_ The young boy rubs the back of his head, "Since we're gonna be heading home soon and all, I just thought…" He begins to motion with his hands, "Maybe it'd be a good idea to just, you know, try and have a little fun..." he looks up at her with hopeful eyes and a begging gaze, "What do you think?"

For a moment, Luna remains silent, unsure of just how to respond. _"He wants to make the most of today…"_

Yet, unlike her older sister, their infant sibling has a straightforward response.

"Poo-poo!" She flares her arms in excitement before leaning over towards her brother, seemingly trying to hold onto him.

Lincoln complies and takes her into his arms. "Heh, you like the idea, Lily?"

And in response, the infant nods, before giggling and reaching for her older brother.

 _"Well, that makes one sister on board with my idea... I just wonder how the others will react to it."_ he looks up at his older sister once more, his eyes filling with hope, "What do you think? Nothing's really stoppin' us from just spending the day out here.

For a moment, Luna's eyes fall upon her younger brother, taking in his soft features. _"He's sick… but he doesn't look like he is, right? That stupid cowlick that he never bothered cutting…"_ Her gaze softens, _"Now that I think of it… it's not all that stupid…"_

"Luna?" Lincoln softly grabs her arm, bringing her back to reality. "Please… I need to know if I can trust you to be on my side…"

" _But… looks can be deceiving…"_ The musician takes a soft breath in defeat. "Lincoln... I dunno, I mean you're sick and well... from what it sounded like and what I've seen..." she rubs the back of her head, desperate to dance around a word that she had been trying to purge from her vocabulary. "Y-you... any little thing can just set you off..."

The young boy's determined expression softens, turning into one of pain. "Luna... I know this is hard but, you've gotta trust me." He looks into her eyes, "I'll be fine... I just really want everyone to enjoy our last day of vacation."

Luna eyes waver against her brother's gaze. And, with a soft sigh, she answers. "All right then... I guess that's..." she looks into his eyes, "Please be careful." As much as she wanted to deny it, even Luna could never say no to Lincoln's begging eyes.

Immediately, Lincoln throws his free arm around his sister, pulling her into a hopeful embrace, "Thanks so much Luna... thank you." He pushes her away ever so slightly so he can look into her eyes, "I promise I'll be careful."

"…Ok…" Her voice is shaky, as if she herself is tempted to deny him- to explain that their vacation is over and that they have to leave- and yet cannot find the empty spot in her chest to allow herself to do so, _"I've always been a pushover around him…"_ The young woman takes their baby sister from her brother's grip, "Just... be careful when asking the others about this, ok? They haven't really been in the most... cheery of moods, ya know?"

"Thank you!" The boy nods in understanding. " I promise I will." And with that, he turns and runs off, leaving Luna alone with Lily.

The young woman bows her head, allowing her gaze to fall upon her sister, while soft, pain-filled tears begin to make their way down her cheeks.

 _"I hope Lincoln knows what he's doing..."_

* * *

Within moments, Lincoln stands before their motel room door, his eyes aiming at the ground while his mind begins races in thought once more. _"You can do this Lincoln, you can do this."_ He shakes his head, _"The girls want you to be happy… they may know the truth but…"_

He takes a deep breath, _"There's nothing to worry about, just because you're sick… just because you are…"_ He gulps, unwilling to finish he thought, _"Doesn't mean they'll just give up. They're my sisters! These are the girls that I duck dodge push and shove just to get to the bathroom! They helped me make a great first impression with Stella! And now they're gonna help me through this…"_ He gulps once more, before carefully unlocking the door and pushing it open, revealing the sisters he holds so dear.

None of the girls seem to notice him enter, with them choosing instead to continue with whatever tasks they are doing. From what Lincoln can see, Lori simply packs her belongs in silence, a harsh air of regret having already overtaken her. Nearby, Lola packs her things as well, choosing to cram her pageant dresses into her suitcase. Lincoln finds Lynn bouncing her only ball against the wall with her eyes beginning to droop from tiredness, while Lisa sits at the room's table, her equipment spread out over it- no doubt that would definitely stop them from going home on time. Luan quietly whispers to Mr. Coconuts while Lucy sits in the open vent jotting down more lines in her poetry notebook.

Lincoln takes a deep breath. "H-hey guys, I'm back."

And wordlessly, his eight present sisters turn their attention towards him.

" _I just have to convince them to stay… how hard could it be?"_ The young boy takes a deep breath, before rubbing the back of his head. "Hey girls…"

"Hey Lincoln…" Leni meekly replies, unconsciously continuing to knit her sweater as she does so, "Like… what's up?"

"I've been thinking…" Lincoln's voice fills with a soft air of solemnity. "I know that you all just found out the truth and don't know how to take it but…" he looks upon his sisters with a begging gaze, "Could we… you know… just try to enjoy the last day of summer we have?"

For a moment, the girls look at each other, seemingly trying to debate the idea in silence. And yet, Lori simply shakes her head, "I'm sorry Lincoln, but we can't…"

The boy looks on in surprise. Throughout this whole trip, Lori had been standing there by his side, pushing everyone along and trying to help them all have the best summer they could… and yet, now? She simply shoves her clothing into her suitcase in silence, almost like she has already given up. "We have to go home…" The young woman's voice trails off, "We all know that mom and dad want us to come back… I've tried stalling but… I just can't anymore…"

"B-but Lori…" Lincoln looks into her eyes, seemingly hoping that she as silently agreeing with him though all he can see is pain. "Please, just one more day!"

Yet, Lori can only sigh in response. "Lincoln, I know that… well, finding out you're…" She gags, "Sick isn't easy, but, taking you for a road trip wasn't the best idea." She turns and calmly pushes her suitcase closed, "You had a flare up because you forgot to take your medicine…" the young woman takes a soft glance at their siblings, though silent they too understand that as much as they don't want to face facts, it would be for the best. "What if you get separated from us and have a flare up?" She looks away, already knowing that no one wants to answer that question.

Immediately, the young boy's voice fills with desperation, before he turns to another sister, "What about you Leni? Come on! Don't you wanna go out and get some new clothes and stuff?!"

Leni pouts, "Lincy… I don't know whether or not to make footies for Lori's baby or you a sweater…" She then looks down at her handiwork, "Plus… I may have all the material I need, but… I don't have anything inspiring me, you know?"

"N-no…" Lincoln gulps, before turning to face another sister, "W-what about you Lynn? Come on, pass the ball over!"

For a moment, the young athlete stops bouncing her ball against the wall for a moment, "I dunno Lincoln… Are you sure?"

The boy nods, "Yeah! We used to spare back home, remember?" He holds his hands up, ready to catch the projectile, "Pass it over and we can play a game!"

Immediately, Lynn shivers, her mind flooding with memories of all the times she had forced her brother to work with her. He would always complain and yet, she pushed him on. And then, when he would inevitably get hurt or ended up exhausted while she was still full of energy, she would tease him about being a nerd.

" _Not again…"_ The young athlete shakes her head. _"I won't hurt him again!"_ Before she looks into his eyes with a begging gaze of her own, "Please Lincoln… no. We… we've seen how your body reacts when you're on medicine… who know how it'll react when you're running around huffing, puffing and sweating?"

"Come on…" He motions towards the door, "I'll be fine, I promise!"

" _I've been such a bad sister to him…"_ Lynn Eyes begin to fill with tears while her voice begins to fill with regret, "I'm sorry Linc, I… I don't wanna hurt you again!"

The young boy's heart sinks in disappointment before he turns towards another sister. "What about you Luan?"

The young comedian looks away from her dummy for a moment, before Mr. Coconuts tilts his head and responds, "What's up Linc?"

Quickly, the young boy runs over and grabs a hold of her free hand, "Come on Luan, why don't you pull a small prank? I remember seeing a bucket in the room cleaner's cart! You could-"

Luan breaks free of his grip and takes a look at the dummy, before both she and her puppet sigh and turn back to the boy. Mr. Coconuts responds, "N-no thanks Linc… I… I'm just not in the mood, ya know?" The puppet tries to force a giggle, "After all, you don't wanna be a **little bucket**!" He tries to emphasize the last word, with Luan following soon after, "Haha! Good one Mr. Coconuts!"

Lincoln's once hopeful gaze breaks, before he turns to try and ask his other sisters- though from a quick glance, he can tell that Lola doesn't want to go anywhere near him, while Lisa hasn't even moved from her experiments. Lucy disappeared as soon as he approached Lynn, and Lana ran into the bathroom.

That's when the motel room opens once more, allowing Luna and Lily to come into view.

"Luna! You're here!" Quickly, Lincoln grabs her guitar and presents it up to her, "Could you play a song for me?! Could you please?!"

For a moment, Luna simply gazes upon the begging visage of her little brother. _"What did I just miss…"_ before she sighs, "Ok I guess… I mean… it couldn't hurt, right?"

"Poo-poo!" Lily claps her hands as Luna places her baby sister on the bed, allowing her to take the instrument from her little brother. "All right… what do you want me play?"

"Anything Luna, please." Lincoln's voice fills with hope, will a pained smile forms on his face.

"What about the rest of you?" The young woman looks towards her sisters, "Do you guys mind anything?"

The other Loud sisters look amongst themselves, before shaking their heads in unison and returning to whatever tasks they busy themselves with.

 _"This doesn't look that good…"_ Luna takes a deep breath, before strumming along, filling the room with a soft beat. "I… I want you to lift me so high, high…" She pauses for a moment, trying to let the words come to her, "Take me to oblivion. Ooo… Ooo, I wanna feel the dark with you, so take me to a place where no one's been… please take me to oblivion…" She does her best to keep her composure, before finishing, "And fly away with me." And with that, her voice trails off, her hands following soon after.

A moment of silence passes with that, before Lincoln throws his arms around his sister, "That was great Luna! Really!"

The young woman reveals a faint smile, before running her hand through his pure white hair, nudging him slightly away as she does so. "Thanks Lincoln… I'm gonna go pack ok? You go do you."

With a pained nod he replies, "All right." Allowing his older sister to walk passed him and over to her luggage.

"Poo-poo?" Lily tilts her head in confusion, causing her brother to face her.

 _"She doesn't understand what's going on…"_ Lincoln takes a deep breath, before scooping his little sister up in his arms and rocking her back and forth, "Don't worry about anything Lily, everything is gonna be all right, ok?"

The young girl reaches her arms out, trying to grab her brother, though of course she can't reach him.

 _"I wonder if she'll remember…"_ He leans in close to her, allowing Lily to place a soft kiss upon his cheek. The infant slowly finds her eyes becoming heavy, and before the boy knows it, she's asleep in his arms. "Lily…"

And with a soft sigh, he places his baby sister on the bed once more, before turning towards his other siblings, "So… that's it? You guys are set on going home?"

Lori sighs and turns to her brother with a pain-filled gaze, "I know it's hard, really I do but… this is for the best Lincoln. This is for the best…" She then motions towards his suitcase, the box resting on the nearby wall, "Why don't you get your things ready? We'll be heading out as soon as the van's packed."

The boy looks on with a begging gaze, and yet it was increasingly apparent Lincoln wasn't getting through to his siblings.

That's when Lana steps out of the bathroom, a soft frown on her face.

Immediately, Lincoln rushes over to her, "Lana! Wanna go out and look for bugs? I remember seeing some in the park!"

"A-are you sure Lincoln?" Lana darts her eyes around for a moment, seemingly looking to her older sisters for advice, though of course none of them can provide, "I mean… aren't bugs and mud not good for you?"

Lincoln waves her off, "Nah, come on, I'll be fine!" He squats down to her height and rubs her head, "So what do you say? It couldn't hurt ya know!"

" _But… No one else wants to risk it…"_ Lana finds her eyes looking into Lincoln's, the boy's begging gaze cutting through her thoughts and urging her to just go along with it all.

"Please Lana." Lincoln whispers, leaning in as he does so, "Please, do it for me."

" _He really wants me to…"_ The young plumber lets out a breath and nods, "O-ok… I guess I can go… did you see any gnarly ones?

The boy shakes his head, "Sorry Lana, I don't remember, but I'm sure that there are plenty of ones you'll enjoy!"

The young girl forces a smile and grabs her brother, "Really?! Then what are we waiting for?!"

 _"At least I'll be able to make the last day of summer memorable for Lana…"_ Lincoln painfully thinks, before turning and grabbing hold of her arm, "Come on! Last one there is a rotten egg!" And with that, they bolt out of the hotel room, leaving the rest of the sisters behind in their wake.

It takes a moment, but Lori takes a deep breath, before zipping her luggage closed and takes a deep breath, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, ok?"

"All right." Luna hops in an open seat and leans back, before strumming a familiar tune on her guitar.

* * *

 _"Why do you continue to fail him?"_ Lori shuts the door behind her, _"He wants to have some fun before you go home and all you can do is lie around trying not to cry about his fate! Why are you trying to deny the reality that's right in front of you?!"_

"Because… It's just, I…" She mentally counters, "Lincoln is sick, I know… but, but…"

"But what?" Her voice counters, _"You're pregnant and he's dying! What could possibly go wrong now? A miscarriage?!"_

The young woman shudders at the thought. "Y-yes…"

Her voice remains silent for a moment, "You're pathetic. You're a horrible sister and you're going to be a horrible mother too."

Slowly, she finds herself sliding down the bathroom door, wrapping her arms around her legs as she does so, _"You're not even strong enough to even be around your brother when he needs you the most."_

"That's because he's in denial…" She shoves her head in her knees, "Ever since we left the hospital, he's been keeping everything bottled up inside! Helping Lucy? Telling everyone? That was just to keep him from breaking down in a mess of tears!"

 _"So now you're saying that you don't care what your brother thinks? Right after you two have done your damnedest to keep him from telling himself the truth huh? Man, you really are a horrible sister!"_ No doubt if her voice were it's own person, they'd be shaking their head in disappointment.

"I know I am… and I'll probably be the worst mother ever…" She does her best to fight the painful tears beginning to fill her eyes, "Lincoln… why can't I do anything to help you?! Why am I so useless?!" With that, her eyes cloud up with tears while her mind begins to race once more.

 _"We'll be home… we'll be home, and Lincoln will be safe from whatever stupid ideas you had for him. And at least mom and dad won't hate you as much… oh who am I kidding?!_ _You lied to everyone, took them on a trip instead of giving your brother medical care and now dragged them out to the middle of who-knows-where just to see a show! They'll hate you for life!"_

"Shut up." Lori meekly replies, though the voice doesn't care, _"You're the worst."_

All Lori can do in response, is cry.

* * *

"So… are you guys done packing?" Luna stands up from her seat and throws her guitar behind her back, "Lori mentioned that we'll be heading out soon."

"Affirmative." Lisa replies, "All that remains is my lab equipment, which as you can see is currently in use.

Luna nods in understanding, "All right then, what about the rest of you?"

Lynn bounces her ball against the wall, "My stuff's packed… and I made sure to pack Lucy's too…"

"Where is she anyway?" The young musician raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I haven't seen her all day."

Immediately, the athlete walks over to the open vent and knocks on the wall, "Hey Lucy, you've gotta come out now! We're getting ready to go and we don't wanna leave you behind!"

"Fine…" A soft voice replies, before the young girl emerges from the opening, her jet-black hair now covered in dust, not that she cares of course.

"No one's taking this well… Not that I blame em…" Luna takes a deep breath, "Lola?"

"Lana and I packed our stuff already, we're set…" The young princess doesn't bother to look up at her older sister, no doubt her mind is full from the thoughts leading back to Lincoln.

"Yep! I've managed to get all of my stuff away!" Leni tries to force an upbeat voice, before rubbing her chin, "But I can't seem to find my sewing accessories…"

"Didn't you leave them at home? I mean I don't think you were planning on making clothes while we're on break ya know." Luna speaks up, tilting her head in confusion as she does so.

"Oh yeah… you're right…" The young woman pouts in defeat, "If I wanna finish Lincy's sweater that means we're gonna have to go home…"

"I don't think Lori or Lincoln wanna go back right now." The musician shrugs, doing her best to remain calm, "But… we're gonna have to, Leni. What do you think, Luan?"

The young comedian shuts her suitcase and nods, before grabbing her puppet, allowing the wooden man to respond. "I'm all set to make like a banana and split!" The young woman then puts on a pained smile, seemingly unable to come up with a better pun.

Though, much to her relief, none of her siblings groan in response.

"Good… everything seems to be going well…" And with that, she hops on the bed and takes a breath of relief, "That's good… since everyone's packed up now, that means that we're gonna be heading home soon…" She glances at her siblings, before hopping on the bed, and speaks with an uneasy tone, "So… while we wait, what do you guys wanna talk about now?"

No one replies, though the siblings look to each other, hoping someone would do so. And yet, a short moment of silence passes, before Lynn begins to tear up.

Though of course, no one needs to ask why.

"So Luna…" Luan rubs the back of her head, "What's gonna happen when we get home and stuff? I mean… you know, getting ready for Lori's baby and for Lincoln's…" She gulps, unwilling to say the word.

"Of course that's the first thing she asks." Luna shakes her head, "I'm sorry Luan… I just don't know…" She looks up, "What about you Leni?"

The once cheerful young woman looks down at the small orange sweater she had started, before tearing up and shaking her head, "I'm sorry guys… I don't know either…"

And with that, the girls simply look down, allowing silence and soft whimpers to fill the room.

Quietly, then, Luna begins to strum along on her acoustic guitar, allowing a familiar tune to fill the room once more, "Summer in the hills… those hazy days were to remember… we were runnin' still, had the whole world at our feet…" Her gaze falls upon her fingers, her hands and voice moving softly almost against her will, "Watching seasons change… all roads were lined with adventure, mountains in the way, but didn't keep us from the sea, here we stand up in arms, this is home where we are, ever strong in the world that we made… I still hear you in the breeze, see your shadows in the trees, holding on, memories, never change…" And with that, she stops, a small tear on her cheek.

"You know, that song reminds me of the time Lincoln decided to try learning music with me." Luna giggles at the thought, "I'll admit, he did pretty good on the drums, but he never did get up to guitar."

"It's almost like the time he helped me out at funny business." Luan chuckles, "He had a **fall** from grace though. Luckily we were able to work together to astound the audience." Luan smiles at the though.

"And the time he helped me train for the playoffs even though my leg was still healing." Lynn adds, a fond smile appearing on her face as she does so.

"That's not even mentioning all the times he's helped me with my poems..." Lucy appears by Lynn's side, though no one is startled by her, much to her relief, "I was never good at finding rhymes the way he is."

Leni smiles, "And I can't remember how many times I've used him as a model. He's so small and lovable that he can fit into anything I make!" She then looks at the garment she had been working on, _"I wonder if he's gonna like this…"_

"Poo-poo!" Lily responds, having blinked awake mere moments earlier. She begins to tell a short story about all of the times Lincoln's taken care of her, all in baby gibberish of course.

Despite all of the soft storytelling though, Lola remains silent, her mind off focusing on other topics, _"All these mean thing he said about me... have I really been that bad of a sister to him?"_

Leni sighs, "We've been terrible sisters..."

Everyone remains silent with that, with Lynn choosing to bounce her ball against the wall, trying to calm herself down.

" _Ever since I started sports, I've always tried to get Lincoln to go along with me…"_ Lynn's mind begins to wander, back to the day it all began, _"Was it a September or a January? Darnit, I don't remember… After I beat up those kids for making fun of me, I asked Lincoln to spar right?"_ She looks away, _"Did he even want to spar?"_

The young woman can't help but kick herself, _"And now… he wants to spar with me and all I can do is tell him no?! What am I even doing?!"_ Only to curl up against the wall and allow the ball to land lifelessly at her feet.

A few feet away, the princess stares weakly at her suitcase, all of her dresses packed neatly into it for the trip home. _"Even if he's sick… he really thinks those things about me?"_ Lola's mind can't help, but focus on the words written in the journal she had read all those days ago, _"Selfish… annoying, bratty… Sometimes I wish that Lana didn't have a twin…"_

" _I can't be that bad, right? I mean I did… threaten him if he didn't help me with one of my pageants and… mess with him for trying to get some peace and quiet in his own room…"_ He mind trails off, while she rubs her arm, seemingly trying to reassure herself that she isn't as bad as she remembers.

Luan, meanwhile, stares at her puppet, the wooden man looking back at her, waiting for the command that would get him to speak, _"How many times did I prank him? I mean… I prank everyone, right? I mean… he doesn't mind it at all! I always get him to laugh and stuff too!"_ Her mind begins to trail back to all the times she would release her pent-up urges in order to keep the other days of the year relatively calm, _"Did I really have to call Ronnie Anne just to prank him?"_ Her eyes wander towards Leni and Luna, the former continuing to knit while the latter stums along.

" _How many times did I make Lincoln try out dresses even though he said that dresses are for girls?"_ Leni does her best to keep knitting, _"Just keep knitting, just keep knitting, knitting… But… he doesn't mind too much right? He loves to help me! And he always says that my work looks great!"_ ˇhe young woman's heart sinks, _"What if he just tells me that because he's worried I'm gonna overreact or something… I do let Lori talk me into doing things easily…"_ Her gaze softens, _"But… I love him, right? He's my brother and I'd do anything for him, right?"_ She finds herself turning towards her younger sister, the musician continuing to play music hoping to calm the mood that had formed amongst them all.

" _First a four bar, then the two…"_ She reminds herself, _"I wonder if Lincoln really likes the music I put out… I mean yeah, he doesn't seem like much of a rock person but, I don't think that matters, right…"_ She begins to think of all the times they listened to music, trying to think of any that he had mentioned enjoying, _"What genre of music does he like anyways…"_ She hesitates the answer, _"Now that I think of it… did he ever even tell me?"_ She shakes her head, _"Ever?"_ Another moment passes, and she sighs, and yet no answer arrives, _"I wonder if he would ever wanna write a song with me…"_

Nearby, Lucy scribbles away random words in her poetry book, doing her best to create rhymes from words that were in no way related, but of course it's of no use, _"What kind of poet am I? I always rely on him to pull the weight and when I have to do something myself, I end up just folding from the pressure."_ She does her best to hide the pain filling her eyes, _"Why am I so useless as a sister…"_

"You know guys… I know things look bad but… Lincoln's got it worse…" Mr. Coconuts cuts through the silent air, his obviously forced voice coming off as more of Luan's than his own.

 _"Yeah..."_ Luna looks over at her little sister, the comedian's once hopeful smile having turned into a pain-filled frown, "Guys, I know that this isn't gonna be easy but... how about we take Lincoln up on his offer? I mean, we are only here for one more day..."

"I guess that's a good idea…" Leni rubs the back of her head, "I don't think I can finish this sweater until I get home anyway…"

"What about the rest of you guys?" Luna meekly asks, her voice wavers at the prospect of the idea.

For a moment, Lynn simply clutches her ball. For years she had used them all to play games and try to get her brother into sports, though of course she failed. And now, he had come to her to learn of his own accord.

Next to her, Luan looks at Mr. Coconuts. For years, the two have worked to bring smiles to all of the residents of the Loud House, and more often than not, failed and elicited groans. And yet, no doubt is her mind about what to do.

"Lincoln wants to have fun with us… to let us just do what we love to do, with him." Mr. Coconuts looks around, with Luan doing the same, "I think we should take his offer and raise it."

"For Lincoln?" Luna asks.

The rest of the girls look at each other for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "For Lincoln."

Lily hops up and nods in agreement, "Poo-poo."

Luna turns and pushes open the motel door, "Lola, Lucy, Lisa, you girls comin'?"

"I will have to decline this offer. I am currently on the verge of a major breakthrough and will not be disturbed as I do so." Though from the frustrated expression she has and her test tubes filled with random reagents, it is obvious that that is a lie.

"I'll come with you." Lucy appear at her side, notebook clenched tightly in her hands, "I heard what you guys were talking about and well... Lincoln has done a lot for me too." She pulls the book close to her chest, "I need to be there for him."

Luna nods in understanding, "All right you guys, all right." She turns once more, now to face their final undecided member, "Lola?"

The pageant queen doesn't respond, choosing instead to stare at the floor.

Slowly, Luna approaches her and takes a knee, placing her hands on the young girl's shoulders as she does so, "Lola."

"Huh, what?" Lola's eyes widen in shock as she is snapped back into reality.

"What's going on with you? Ever since you found out the truth you've been very… quiet." Luna speaks with a soft, motherly tone.

"No I haven't!" Lola quickly defends, pushing her away as she does so, "I just... I..."

"Lola, it's ok to be scared, we all are." Luna cuts her off, "But... right now Lincoln needs us to be strong for him. He wants us to make the most of the last day of summer."

The young girl nods in understanding.

"So do you wanna help Lincoln have a good time?" Luna asks.

Lola nods in response.

"All right then." The musician stands up straight, "Let's go." And with that, they step out of the room.

* * *

"Find any good ones Linc?" Lana digs at the dirt, her eyes focused heavily upon the hard earth, hoping to find some trace of the prizes she seeks, "I can't seem to find any over here!"

 _"I'm glad she's having fun."_ Lincoln smiles while he digs as well. It takes him a few more spoonfuls of dirt, but when he finishes, he finds a small, pink and brown tube-like creature trying to make its way through the mess, "I've found one!"

Immediately, the six-year-old rushes to her feet and over to her brother, "R-really?!"

The boy stands up straight and nods, "Yep." Before lowering it to her height, "One earthworm for your liking!"

Lana takes the pile in her hands and smiles. She throws her arms around him, "Thanks Lincoln!"

The white-haired boy smiles and returns the affection, "No problem Lana." Before rubbing her head, "Anything for my little grease monkey."

"Heh, thanks." The young girl nuzzles her brother.

For the next few minutes, the two children simply stand by, with the soft end-of-summer sun warning their bodies.

*Sniffle*

Slowly, Lincoln releases one of his arms, moving it to rub Lana's head once more- though this time is slow and tender, "Don't worry… there's nothing to be worried about."

Quickly, she breaks the embrace and wipes her eyes, "Sorry Lincoln..."

Carefully, Lincoln took a knee, moving himself down to her height while he looked into her eyes, "Lana... what's wrong?" Though he can't help but mentally facepalm at the question, _"They already know. Why bother asking that of all questions?!"_

"Nothing Linc, really." She waves him off, before turning around and rushing into a nearby patch of untouched grass, "Let's find some more grub! I wanna have fun on the last day of summer!"

 _"And I do too."_ Lincoln sighs, "I just wish the other girls could enjoy it with us..."Though of course, Lan takes the moment to look around.

"Ooo! I found one!" She quickly grabs her finding, prompting Lincoln stand up once more and come over to her.

"Heh, what'd you find, sis?"

Lana immediately turns and looks up at him, "I just found a-" yet, before she can finish, her eyes go wide in shock and she drops the insect, "Lincoln! Your face!"

"What's wrong with my face?" Lincoln puts on a sheepish smile, though it's obvious what she's talking about.

"Your face is red! Just like when we were at the circus!" She grabs his arm and pulls tugging him along, "We have to take you to-"

Lincoln sighs and pulls Lana over to a nearby tree, sitting down in the shade as he does so. "Don't worry Lana, I'll be fine. I promise."

"But... but!" The young girl tries to counter, though Lincoln smiles at her.

He leans back against the trunk of the tree, before patting the ground next to him, "Why don't you join me? Let's get some rest while we wait for this rash to go away."

"But... don't we need to get the others?" Lana's voice and eyes fill with concern.

Though of course, Lincoln simply smiles, "Come on Lana. Do this for me." He chuckles, "I took my medicine this morning."

The young girl stares at her brother in suspicion for a moment, before taking a soft breath in relent, "A-all right Lincoln, if you say so..." and with that, she sits down next to her brother, wrapping her arms around him as she does so. Lincoln wraps his arms tightly around her as well.

A soft silence overtakes the duo as they simply look out, allowing the world to pass them by. Nearby, they watch countless couples stroll past- some kissing, some pushing strollers, and some even doing both simultaneously. On the other side of the rock path, they can see random children playing around, no doubt doing their best to enjoy their last day of summer as well.

All of this brings a soft smile to the boy's red face, "Heh, reminds me of the time we went to save those frogs from getting dissected."

Lana smiles at the thought, "I remember that! We had to hide them all from Principal Huggins!"

"Heh if didn't know any better, I could swear that some of them really wanted Huggins to catch them!" The boy laughs, "But I'm glad it all worked out in the end."

The young girl giggles, "Yeah, I am too."

And the duo can't help, both smile fondly at the idea.

"Hey guys." Luna greets as she approaches her two siblings, with the rest of them following soon after.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Lincoln looks up from his perch, "I thought you wanted to go home…"

Luna rubs the back of her head, "Lincoln... we've been talking and well... we wanna join ya."

"You wanna make the most of today?" Lincoln's eyes go wide in shock while his heart races in excitement.

Leni nods, "Like totes!"

"Yeah... but we can't be too rough." Lynn rubs her arm in embarrassment."

The boy smiles and leans back, "Thanks girls, but... I'm gonna flare up again..."

"So what do you wanna do?" Lucy walks over and takes a seat on the aside opposite Lana.

"How about we play some catch while we talk?" She sits down as well, "I mean, I'm sure that that won't trigger anything, right?"

Lincoln shrugs, "Sure Lynn, why not."

The athlete smiles, before tossing the ball over, allowing Lincoln to catch and pass it back.

"So what do you wanna do, Linc?" Luna asks, taking a seat as well.

"How about... we just tell stories?" Lincoln asks, motioning towards his face."You know, while we wait for this face rash to go away."

"That's not that **rash** of an idea!" Luan tries to pun, eliciting a giggle from Lincoln. Though, deep down they could both tell just how forced that was.

Luckily for them, however, the rest of the girls choose to simply go along with it all and they laugh as well.

"So wanna do it?" Lincoln's voice fills with hope, "Lana and I were just talking about the time we rescued some frogs from a class project!"

"Wincoln!" Lily cheers in response, grabbing for her brother as she does so. "Pway!"

The girls look at each other for a moment, before smiling and sitting down, creating a small circle under the shade of the tree.

"Heh, well then I guess I'll start." Luna plucks at her guitar's string, "Remember your first concert Lincoln?"

The boy nods, "Yeah!"

Luna gives a fond smile, while the other Louds lean in closely, ready to hear the first story.

12-9-6-5 9-19 2-21-20 1 19-20-15-18-25 20-8-1-20 15-14-5 23-18-9-20-5-19. 9 19-21-19-16-5-3-20 12-9-14-3-15-12-14 8-1-19 4-5-3-9-4-5-4 20-15 13-1-11-5 20-8-5 13-15-19-20 15-6 8-9-19.

 **A/N Man, this story's really windin' down, huh? I hope you guys enjoyed! As always, R &R and feel free to come and chat on the Loud House discord!**


	18. One Last Ride

**A/N Man, 2 updates in a single weekend, while I have classes 6 days a week?! What kind of sorcery is this?! Heh anyways, welcome to beginning of the end. This story's really winding down. I hope you guys enjoy! And I thank Sesquipedalian Numeral for his help!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Eighteen: One Last Ride

For a moment, the young girls simply sit around, waiting for someone to break the silence and begin. Though Luna suggested she would, she just couldn't seem to find the words to do so, resulting in a soft quiet overtaking the louds. At this point, the sun floated above, bathing the Loud Children in its warm glow. It is almost like this is just a typical day with a group of siblings sitting around and bonding.

Yet, deep down, they all know the true reason why they've gathered around: it's the end of their summer and their brother hasn't gotten any better…

"So… I guess I'll start then…" Lynn glances at Luna, before rubbing her chin and speaks with a soft, almost desperate voice. "Uhh… Do you guys remember the time that we got super competitive over board games?"

"I remember you getting so competitive that everyone got annoyed." Lincoln chuckles, causing his older sister's face to go red in embarrassment, "So we all worked together to beat ya!"

"But hey! I won in the end!" Lynn crosses her arms and blushes in embarrassment. "And I stopped rubbing my wins in your faces too!"

Luan giggles in response, "That must be a **game** to you Lynn!" Before she throws her head back in laughter, causing Lynn to blush even harder.

"How about you tell a story now, Luan?" Lincoln leans in closer to the comedian, prodding her to do so, "How about the time I decided to be your assistant and stuff?"

The young woman smiles at the thought, "How could I forget? You stole the show right from under me!" She continues to laugh, "You really pulled the rug right from under me!"

"Course, I learned from the best." The lone boy smiles as well.

Quickly, Lucy cuts in, preventing silence from taking over once more, "I remember the time you took the fall for clogging the toilet even though it was my fault…"

"Wait… which time are you talking about?" Lana tilts her head in confusion, "I know that Lincoln shoved dad's CD's and some leftovers down the tubes, but what did you send down the pooper?"

Lucy blushes in embarrassment, "I… I sent…"

Yet, before she can answer, Lincoln cuts in, "That doesn't matter." Running his hand through her pitch-black hair as he does so, "After all, that past is the past. Not much we can do besides try to think of it fondly, right?"

"Well I like, totes loved the time I took you to the mall and got you some new shirts!" Leni promptly waves her arms, doing her best to emphasize her excitement.

Lincoln rubs his chin, "That was after you passed your driving test, right?"

The fashionista smiles, "Yep! I don't think I'd ever be able to pass it without your help!"

The boy simply smiles in response.

"I remember the time you helped me with my pageant so you could go get some tickets to Dairyland…" Lola quietly speaks up, tapping her fingers together as she does so, "I-it was nice of you…"

"Heh, anything for you." Lincoln rubs Lola's head affectionately, "You're my sisters after all! Why wouldn't I wanna make you guys happy?"

"Who knows bro? Who knows?" Luna shrugs and smiles, "Heh, I remember the time I took you to your first concert." She shakes her head, "I remember how annoying I was and stuff…"

"Yeah…" Lincoln rubs the back of his head in embarrassment, "Sorry for blowing up at you… I know you were just trying to make my first concert unforgettable and stuff."

Yet, much to his relief, his sister waves his off, "No need bro, I went too far. I'm just glad you enjoyed it in the end."

"Poo-poo!" Lily speaks up, grabbing for Luan as she does so.

The young comedian tilts her head, "You've got a story you wanna share too?"

The infant nods, before coughing and spouting out random baby gibberish, flaring her arms in excitement as she does so. A moment passes afterward, before Luan replies, "Heh, Lily remembers the time you and Clyde took care of her for a day."

Lincoln chuckles at thought, "Heh, I remember you were pretty happy about it all too, weren't ya Lily?"

"Poo-poo." The young girl nods, before grabbing for her brother, prompting Luan to hand her over to him. And wordlessly, the young boy takes her into his arms, "I love you guys…"

"We love you too Lincoln…" His sisters reply in unison.

And with that, Lincoln leans back, against the trunk of the oak tree and smiles, "I can't believe you girls remember all of that…"

"How could we forget bro?" Luna chuckles, "We've done so much stuff together that it'd actually be harder to forget everything!"

"Heh yeah… we've done so much." Lincoln's voice trails off. It is almost as if he wishes to add onto the thought, and yet cannot bring himself to do so.

"And so little…" Lucy looks away, doing her best to fight the tears beginning to break free from her eyes.

"Come on guys, there's gotta be more to it than that!" Luna's voice cuts through the soft air beginning to form around them, "I mean come on! We've done so much together!" Her gaze falls upon Lincoln, "You've enjoyed this vacation so much, haven't ya?"

The boy nods, "Yeah… I have, really…" Though, even he can't help, but think, _"But… why does this all have to end?"_

Silence overtakes the Louds once more, with each other seemingly looking to each other for guidance, though no one is willing to break through it.

*Sniffle*

Willing or not however, Lynn cuts through it all with a whisper, "This isn't fair…"

"What?" Leni wraps her arm around her little sister.

"This isn't fair!" she shouts, tears beginning to make their way down her cheeks, "You're our brother! Our only one and we're supposed to take care of you too!" She clenches her fist, "But… I've forced you to spar with me even though you didn't wanna… what kinda sister am I?"

For a moment, Lincoln considers rebutting, arguing that everything would be all right even when he's gone. And yet, he finds himself unable to do so.

"I'm sorry for bugging you all the time…"Lucy responds, letting go of her brother and shuffling away, doing her best to stay out of his line of sight- though it's obvious he can still see her.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about all the pranks I pulled on you…" Luan adds, with Leni following soon after.

And within moments, the girls talk about everything they had done, apologizing for what they believed to be the actions that had wronged their only brother. And yet, the boy doesn't seem to flinch- almost as if he had already known and accepted it all.

"We're sorry…" Luna ends with, "And now you're sick and we were just sitting around moping about it all… when we were supposed to be helping you through it!"

Finally, Lincoln clenches his fists and allows a lone tear to free itself from his eyes, "You think you're the only ones who have to apologize?" He looks up at his sisters with a pain-filled gaze, I'm sorry for lying about all this… for trying to ignore you all even when you needed help!"

He shakes his head, "Heck, sometimes I've just tried to get out of the house and hang out with Clyde and the guys all day because you guys were getting on my nerves!" He then looks away, "I just didn't wanna deal with you all…"

"It's no problem Lincoln…" Lola sighs, "I know we can all be a handful sometimes…"

Slowly, he brings his head back up, only to look away once more, "I-I'm sorry I won't be there for you guys… My… condition is getting worse and well…"

"Don't worry about it." Lynn cuts him off, doing her best to keep herself from tearing up again, "We… we understand. You've been a great brother." Her voice wavers, while the rest of their siblings can't help, but look around, unconsciously looking for a way around this conversation.

Though, they all know that there is no way out. This is their truth and they have to hold onto it, whether they like it or not.

"I wish I could… do more…" Lincoln whispers.

"No matter how much time you have… it will never be enough." Luna speaks with a poetic tone, doing her best to break free of her typical monotone, "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd still be doing poetry… after all, there aren't too many people willing to help someone out when they have low self-esteem."

"Yeah… And you're the best model I could ever ask for!" Leni adds on, doing her best to sound cheery.

"That's not to mention what you did for me and hops." Lana smiles, with her frog popping out and croaking soon after.

"Simply put bro, you're the best brother us group of sisters could ever hope for." Luna stands up and wraps her arms around the boy, doing her best to feel his heat around her, "And we love you."

"I love you guys too." Lincoln returns the affection, albeit he finds himself hurting because of it.

"So… what do you wanna do next?" He asks, his voice filled with pain.

"How about tell more stories?" Luna suggests, wiping the tears that had filled her eyes as she does so, "At least that way… we can… not focus on the future?"

"I think I'd like that…" Lincoln replies.

 _ **A Few Hours Later…**_

"So many stories... so little time..." Lincoln leans back against the hard would of the oak tree, and smiles. "I can't believe you guys remember all of that."

"We could never forget you, Linc. You're our brother!" Lynn speaks with a soft, understanding tone, before playfully punching her brother's arm.

 _"T-that's great."_ The boy chuckles "I can't believe summer's ending already... it's like we just left Royal Woods just the other day."

"As much as I love to sing about it, the summer can't last forever." Luna sighs. Typically, she would fill the air with a soft melody, doing her best to keep her siblings at bay. And yet, for the first time this vacation, she finds the warm silence oddly calming. It is as if there are no more surprises to be had and no more secrets to be revealed. _"But I guess that's to be expected when everyone knows."_

"So, like, what do you wanna do now?" Leni tilts her head at her brother, "It's, like, getting late and stuff."

Slowly, Lincoln finds his eyes wandering in thought. Despite the fact that it is the last day of their summer vacation, there is still so much they can do. They could tell more stories of course, try to play another game or even go out for a small snack!

And yet, none of these things truly stand out to Lincoln.

"You know what..." the boy's eyes wander amongst the pained visages of his sisters, _"Maybe... it's time to return the favor."_ With a soft sigh, he answers, "How about we just watch the sunset? I mean, there isn't much we can do tonight so..."

"Say no more, dear brother." Lucy cuts him off, returning to his side as she does so, before wrapping her arm around him, "Even if we are all heading towards immanent oblivion, it is a good idea to appreciate the simple things in life."

And so, the girls wordlessly look at each other and nod, before moving over, allowing them to watch the evening sky.

For a moment, Lincoln simply gazes at the sunset, and the mix of reds, yellows, oranges and purples that the sun made as it descended into its nightly abyss.

He finds himself content with not saying a word and based on the silence that overtakes his sisters, they are too.

And so, the Louds simply sit by, taking in the final light on the last day of their summer, and the beautiful image that it gives before finally disappearing into the darkness, leaving nothing but a blanket of stars in its wake.

After that, none of the Louds seem to be willing to move from their seats, almost as if they themselves are unsure if their eyes deceive them.

With a soft sigh, Luna stands up and breaks the silence, "All right everyone, it's time to go."

"Can't we just stay another minute?" Lana clutches Lincoln's arm, while her eyes softly begs her older sister to reconsider.

"I know that... summer ending is hard..." Luna's gaze falls upon her younger brother, the young boy simply smiling, seemingly indifferent to whatever choice his sister is about to make. _"I have to do what's best for him..."_

And so, she grabs her guitar and strums, "But... even though the summer's ending and real life seems so condescending, we'll grow together, you and I, we'll face tomorrow side-by-side..." her gaze falls upon her brother and the two sisters cuddling close to him, "Just us and the love of family..."

With that, Lincoln comes closer to his sisters, allowing their heat to envelop him further than before, before he motions for all of his sisters to join in. And soon enough, they've pulled their brother into a massive hug.

"That was great Luna…" The boy whispers and smiles, before breaking the hug, giving himself just enough room to breathe.

"Thanks Linc." The young woman smiles as well, doing her best to hold back to pain-filled tears.

The young boy forces himself up to his feet, "I guess it's finally time..."

"Yeah." Luna nods, "It's been fun..." she looks around for a moment, the park has all but emptied of its other visitors, leaving the Loud children as the only ones remaining, "I think it's time to head back..."

"Aww, why?" Lana pouts, clutching tighter to Lincoln, "Just a few more?"

"Sorry dude, but it's getting late." She motions towards the starry sky above, "Lori's probably looking for us, we were supposed to head home today!"

"That's not gonna happen." Lynn quips, spinning her ball as she does so, "Lori would've gotten us by now if we were!"

Leni hops to her feet, "Maybe she's busy coming up with baby names!"

"Heh, well if she is, then this delay would've been totally **birth** it!" Luan holds herself as she throws her head back in laughter.

The children can't help but chuckle at the joke, prompting Luan to raise an eye brow, "Oh you guys liked that huh?"

Lincoln nods, "Yeah, that was one of your better ones."

"Great! That means you're not **kid-in-me**!" Luan adds, eliciting more laughs from her siblings, much to her joy. "Thanks you guys, you really **egg** me up!"

And soon enough the nighttime park is filled with the joyful laughter of the children, while Luan continues to throw out more puns.

Though of course, this has to come to an end eventually. And when it does so, the Louds look at each other, before getting up and gathering around the tree.

"All right guys…" Quickly, Luna counts everyone that's present, careful to make sure that no one had been left behind- not that there is any risk of that happening, given the circumstances. "Everyone's accounted for, all we have to do is-"

"Poo-poo!" The infant cuts her off, pointing at a small light as she does so. Said glow promptly fades.

"What is it, Lily?" Luan tilts her head at her younger sister.

"What the?" Another light flashes, causing Luna to look around in surprise.

Soon enough, more lights begin to flicker around the children- almost as if the stars above had decided to pay them a visit down below!

"Fireflies!" Lincoln reaches out to grab one of the lights, allowing the insect to land on his hand.

Lana immediately jumps up, "Hey! If you catch one it'll let you make a wish!"

Lola's eyes go wide, before she jumps up as well, hoping to catch one... though of course she misses, causing her to fall face flat in the dirt, "Aww..."

"Heh, I think she was talking about shooting stars" Lincoln offers his hand to her, "Are you ok Lola?"

Lola nods and takes his hand, allowing her brother to pull her back to her feet, "You've gotta be careful! Chasing fireflies is fun, but no one wants to get hurt while they do that!"

"I know…" She rubs the back of her head, "I just… wanted to catch one so I could wish that you were better!"

Lincoln's gaze softens, and he runs his hand through her long, blonde locks, "Don't worry about it Lola… really, I'll be fine!"

Though, of course, she knew how big of a lie that truly is.

And so, her gaze softens as well, before she throws her arms around the young boy, "Thanks Lincoln."

"No problem." He returns the embrace.

"Yeah... we're probably not heading home tonight." Luna rubs the back of her head, "Wanna try to catch some of these?"

Leni giggles, "I'm totes gonna make the cutest outfits for them!"

And with that, the Louds run off, hoping to catch some of the flying insects.

For the next few minutes they duck, dodge, push, and shove through the park, doing their best to enjoy the beautiful summertime night as they catch the wondrous lights. Their soft cheers fill the nighttime air, while the soft, milk-light of the moon gives them a perfect lantern from which to see.

 _"This is just like a poem."_ Lincoln thinks, taking a glance at Lucy as he does so. No doubt the Gothic Girl would remember these moments and recreate them in her writing. He grabs for another one, only to catch it and release, allowing it to float off as if nothing had just happened, _"Words can only write someone's destiny… It's up to the person to do with it what they will… I wonder what they would all say about this…"_

But, even he knows that words can be too limiting.

Nearby, other siblings follow. Lana and Lola do their best to work together, while Lynn jumps and spins the air trying to grab them. Lily grabs at the insects, while Luan holds her up, laughing all the way. Leni and Luna run along the way, making sure that the others wouldn't get hurt while guiding the siblings through the unfamiliar park.

Finally, after an hour of chasing, Luna stands at the edge of the park, with her siblings having followed her lead. They collectively opened their palms, and released the fireflies back to their rightful place amongst the starry night sky.

"How's that for a way to end the night, dude?" Luna nudges her brother, "What'd you think of it?"

Lincoln smiles in response, "Thanks guys... for making this the best end of summer ever."

Lucy appears by his side. "Thanks for being an eternal light in the darkness of my existence." The young Goth hugs her brother, "As much as I despite emotion, "I'm happy you took me to that poetry club."

"Yeah, you're one of the brightest lights in our world!" Luan adds on, releasing her hands as she does so, allowing a small horde of fireflies to fly out, surrounding them in light once more, before the bugs fly off, leaving the young Louds behind at the edge of the park.

And the Louds laughed in response.

"I can't believe we did so much on this vacation..." Luna quips. "It feels like we left just yesterday.

"Yeah! We even went to the mall a few times!" Leni adds, while Lola smiles in agreement.

"Don't forget the carnival." Luan speaks up, her puppet looking up in surprise.

"And Dairyland!" Lana cheers, holding her hands close as she does so, "I got to ride the Milk Shaker again!"

"Plus, it was nice to see you and Ronnie Anne kiss, **lame-o**." Lynn playfully punches his arm.

Lincoln blushes awkwardly rubs he back of his head, "Heh, yeah... those were fun."

"Poo-poo!" Lily grabs for her brother, prompting Luan to hand her over once again.

"You have something to say too?" Lincoln pokes his baby sister on the nose.

The infant giggles, before nodding, "I wuv you Wincoln."

"Aww." The girls reply in unison, allowing Lincoln to smile and reply, "I love you girls too..."

* * *

It takes the siblings a few minutes to return to the motel room. They fill the air with noise as they do so, true to their surname.

Then, just as they reach for the doorknob to their room, Lori opens up, with a concerned frown on her face, "Oh, there you guys are. I was just about to go look for you all."

"We were, like, having a lot of fun in the park today!" Leni cheerfully replies, while waving her hand around, seemingly trying to emphasize her point.

She tilts her head in curiosity, "Oh really now?"

"Yeah." Luna nods in affirmation, "We just hung out in the park for a bit. Chased some fireflies and told some stories." She shrugs.

 _"Well you've just hit a new low. While you were busy moping about not being able to help Lincoln, your sisters went out of their way to spend time with him! After everything you've done, Lincoln has to think you're the worst sister ever!"_ the young woman shakes her head, brushes the thought aside, before she smiles, "That's great you guys..." she motions towards the room's only other occupant: their four-year-old sister.

"While you guys were gone, I've been getting stuff ready for the trip tomorrow." Lori rubs the back of her head, "Mom and dad are annoyed that we aren't driving back at the moment, but they decided to let you have just one more day after I told them that you all went out for a bit."

"Great!" Lincoln hugs her, "By the way, how's Lisa doing?"

The young woman returns the affection, before looking back, "She's been pushing herself... she'll be fine of course, but... it's a bit worrying you know..."

Lincoln looks away, doing his best to fight the feeling of guilt welling up in the pit of his stomach.

"Lisa..." Lily grabs at her sleeping roommate.

"This can't be good for her..." Lincoln's voice fills with concern, "We have to do something to get her to stop!"

 _"She's a prideful girl... and as much as she might talk down to us, I know she's not an emotionless robot… no matter how much she tries to seem like one."_ Lori sighs, "It won't be that easy... but I'm sure I could try to tell her to relax… maybe even tell her to try to have fun on our last night here."

The young boy looks up in curiosity. "How about you? How are you feeling with the pregnancy, Lori?"

"Nothing much yet. Taking some time to shower really helped out... there's so much coming at us in such a short time, it's overwhelming." she rubs her hand through his soft, white hair, _"No amount of water you pour on yourself will wash away the sins you've committed."_

A soft silence overtakes them after that.

"…But don't worry everyone, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine. Did you guys have fun? Are you guys packed up?" Lori continues, a meek tone filling her voice.

"Yeah." The siblings reply in unison.

Lori nods, "Good, then all that's left is driving back. Lights out everyone, we head back home in the morning."

With that, the Louds file back into their home away from home, leaving Lori to think while she lies on their shared bed.

" _I have to show that I'm here for Lincoln somehow..."_

 _"You wanna show him you care? Take him out and drive him around! Make his summer last forever! You don't have to face the truth! You're not having a kid and Lincoln isn't gonna kick the bucket!"_

Lori shakes her head, _"No, I can't do that. That wouldn't be fair to Lincoln... He needs to be treated with dignity…"_ Her eyes begin to wander, falling upon a certain family van parked nearby, _"But... there is something I_ can _do..."_

 ** _Hours Later…_**

 _"You know this idea is horrible, right?"_ A thought cuts through Lori's clouded mind, urging her to relent before there is no turning back. Yet, the young woman shakes her head, _"Just because you think it's bad doesn't mean that it is…."_ Carefully, she dresses herself, before glancing around the room once more.

She takes a moment to appreciate the sleeping faces of her little siblings. Their calm, peaceful expressions speak as if nothing at all stands between them and the happiness that they so seek.

" _But… life has its ways of stopping you from being happy…"_

With a soft sigh, the young woman finds her gaze moving out the window, towards the still-dark sky. _"Summer's ending… but… I don't know what else to do…"_ she holds her hand over her abdomen, taking a moment to try and feel the new life forming within her, _"There's something I've been putting off for a while…"_ Her gaze falls upon her brother, _"I think it's time…"_ With one final push, she musters the courage and steps over her sleeping siblings.

"Hey Lincoln…" she whispers. Her hand carefully rubs her brother, stirring him from the slumber they had long since learned to enjoy every moment of.

"Ugh… Lori? What's up?" The young boy slowly opens his eyes and turns to face his older sister. Thankfully, years of having to sleep in such a noisy home had made Lana and Lola quite the heavy sleepers.

"I've been thinking…" She rubs the back of her head, "Could we… go for a drive? Just the two of us?"

For a moment, Lincoln stares at her in confusion, seemingly unsure of just how to react, "Uhh… what's going on Lori?" He glances out the window, "It's… it's still night out…"

"I know, but…" The young woman sighs and caresses her brother's head, "The only way we'll be able to get some alone time is… well… if everyone's asleep." She turns towards her siblings once more, "Please Linc, trust me…"

The young boy considers denying her request- after all, one of the symptoms he has to endure is extreme fatigue and boy had that set in! And yet, he finds his gaze softening, with a newfound desire to go for a short drive with her. What would they talk about? It truly doesn't matter. "All right Lori, all right…" He carefully frees himself from the iron grip of the twins, before hopping to his feet- almost falling as he does so.

Thankfully, his sister is able to catch him just in time, "Don't worry Lincoln, don't worry, I'm here for you…" She whispers, her voice filling with a motherly calm.

Of course, Lincoln smiles, before standing up straight and dressing himself. Within a few moments, the duo is driving along the nighttime highway in silence.

 _"So, you're here. You've got Lincoln all to yourself."_ Lori thinks, soft thoughts filling her mind, _"What are you gonna do now? Force him to keep going so you don't have to face the truth?! Did you think this through at all?!"_

Lori doesn't move her eyes from the road ahead, _"Y-yes! Of course I did! I thought that we both needed a break! You know, since we haven't had one since we left Aloha Beach!"_ Her thoughts pause, _"And I know Lincoln wants this too…"_

 _"You know you can't keep lying to yourself."_ No doubt if the person behind that thought had a face, they would shake their head in disappointment.

Slowly, the young woman finds her eyes wandering over to her little brother. The young boy is staring out the window, while his mind begins to flood with the thoughts he had long-since tried his best to repress.

"How are you feelin', Lincoln?" Lori softly asks, breaking the silence.

"I'm all right Lori…" He sighs, choosing not to turn to his sister as he does so.

Lori soon finds her eyes wandering out the window as well. Thankfully, there are very few drivers present on the roads at the moment, given just how early in the morning it is.

"Why are you doing this?" Lincoln turns to his older sister and tilts his tired head in curiosity.

For a moment, Lori simply sighs, before turning towards her brother with a begging gaze, "Lincoln… I've been thinking…" Her voice fills with pain, "Do you really want the summer to end? You know, we could keep this vacation going and just try to have fun and stuff."

Lincoln considers the idea, only to shake his head, "Lori… What's really going on?"

"Nothing Lincoln!" The young woman quickly counters, "I just wanna make sure that… you have the best summer ever!" She puts on a painful smile. _"The last summer you'll ever have…"_

"Lori… we both know that the summer can't last forever. You of all people should know that…" He turns away from his sister and gazes out the car window once more. They now find themselves driving up a small hill overlooking to whole region.

"Come on, I mean… yeah it'll be hard to keep finding things to do, but we'll manage." Her soft tone begins to fill with desperation, "We've done it before and we can do it again, right?"

The young boy remains quiet, choosing to look down. His mind begins to fill with the possibilities. Yes, it would be hard to keep going and yes, they didn't have unlimited funds, but they would find a way to manage! Of course, it could get lonely since they wouldn't really have a chance to meet people, but come on! You're on vacation in a never-ending summer!

"We could keep life going of course. Travel from town to town…" Lori whispers, her eyes pleading for her brother to reconsider, "Yeah, I know it has its downsides, and it'll be hard to convince the others to agree with the idea, but I'm sure that they'll warm up to it! They just have to!"

" _My destiny isn't in the stars… but does that mean I can just ignore what's really going on?"_ His chest begins to ache, though he is unsure if it's from his condition or the idea of having to go home after everything that's happened.

With a hopeful tone, she finishes, "Please Lincoln, let's keep going. The summer can last forever."

" _But… life has to keep going… it never stops, not even for tears…"_ Lincolns shakes his head, "I'm sorry Lori… but we have to go home…" He turns to her, "Please."

"But Lincoln!" Lori raises her voice, begging him to reconsider, "Y-you- you're sick and we just can't…"

He turns to her with a begging gaze of his own, "I know… and I know you're pregnant."

The young woman silences herself.

"Please Lori… you can't keep going on like this. You have to take care of your baby." He looks into her eyes.

" _I've been trying to take care of him this whole time… but I forgot I had to take care of myself too…"_ She turns her eyes back to the road ahead, clutching the wheel tighter than she ever had before, "It was worth a try…" She looks down in defeat, _"But there's no use… he's right… he's right…"_

"So… where are we going?" The young boy asks, his gaze falling upon his older sister once more.

"…Somewhere I guess." She shrugs, "I just wanted to go talk to you for a bit …" Slowly, she finds herself turning the wheel once more, causing Vanzilla to make its way onto a small, almost familiar cliff face. A small tree rests at its edge, this one overlooking the entirety of the forest. It is almost as if they're above another ocean and this tree is prepared to watch over it. "This seems like a good place to stop."

For a moment, Lincoln considers asking Lori to take them back. Yet somehow, he finds himself nodding in agreement, "Sure I guess. What's the worst that can happen?"

The young woman smiles in response, before hopping out of the van, with her brother following not long after, and they both approach a tree not far ahead.

Quietly, Lori and Lincoln rest themselves under the tree, both of them looking out into the vast wilderness below. In that moment, it seemed to be the perfect place to end a vacation, standing at the precipice to one of the best views they could find.

Silence overtakes the duo, with the duo finding peace within each other's presence… as well as allowing them to take in the scene around them for just another moment.

Aside from the tree, soft blades of moist grass cover the cliff. There are no flowers or other plants of any kind. The road rushes passed its base, giving a small space for someone to park- in this case the two Loud Siblings- while they rest under the tree.

Just like they did just a few days prior.

"So, what do you wanna talk about, Lincoln?" Lori turns towards her brother.

Lincoln takes a moment to consider his options, but alas, nothing comes to mind. The recent… circumstances had made any kind of talk with those closest to him difficult. "I dunno..." Lincoln's voice trails off.

"Well, how about we talk about what we do when we get home? I mean Ronnie Anne's waiting for you, Clyde will literally be wanting to hang out, and all those other guys are gonna be glad to see you again, right?" She rubs her brother's back, , before wrapping her arm around him, seemingly trying to coax him into opening up to her.

"Yeah, there's so much to do..." Lincoln gives a soft smile, before a tear begins to make its way down his cheek, "But Lori... we both know that that isn't going to happen..."

"Don't say that! You never know!" Lori stammers, before quickly recomposing herself, "So what if you're sick and… getting worse…" the light dims from her eyes, "Lisa's gonna make a cure and stuff and you're gonna be fine…"

Lincoln sighs in defeat, "Lori... we both know that Lisa isn't a miracle worker." He looks up at her with begging eyes, "I-I've been doing my best to stay calm for the girls but... I just can't anymore..." He begins to curl up, before he buries his head in his knees, doing his best to hide the tears he had held in for so long.

 _"I want to help him, but... I don't know how…"_ She wraps her arms around him, pulling the boy into a soft embrace, "Lincoln... it's ok... we'll always be there for you..."

Yet, the young boy refuses to break from his pain-filled hold.

Slowly, Lori's eyes move up towards the tree above them. It's simple, with branches and leaves twisting and turning around each other, in a hopeful attempt to bask in the sunlight. There are flowers along those hard lines, preparing to bear the life-giving fruit.

"Heh, it's just like the one in Aloha beach..." Lori speaks with a nostalgic tone.

"What?" Lincoln breaks from his tearful hold.

"You know... the one we visited the night you had your… 'Accident'… you know, the one that caused us to find out the truth." she looks down upon him with a smile, "Y-you remember, don't you?"

"I-I guess?" The boy responds, uncertainty filling his voice.

"That's good." The young woman pauses for a moment, before singing, "Remember the summers we spent up here? These hazy days are to remember!" Her voice fills with hope, "It's where we watch the seasons change! With our family running here, all roads will lead to adventure! Though there may be mountains in the way, they won't keep us from the sea. Here we stand up together, holding arm in arm! There is a home, wherever we are!" Her gaze falls upon her brother, while her voice softens to just a whisper, "And together we'll stand in the eye of the storm, never letting one drift off!"

Lincoln softly smiles with that, "You remembered that?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?" She runs her hand through his soft white hair once more, "You're my brother, I could never forget all the things you've done for us."

"What are you talking about?" The boy wipes the tears from his eyes.

"You've kept us together, broken up our fights, and you know us better than we know ourselves!" She pulls him in close, "You're the link that keeps us together... and because of you this has been literally the best summer ever."

"But Lori, everything that's happened was your idea! This trip, going to the hospital and bringing Bobby and Ronnie Anne over for a day! That was all you!"

"But you're the reason our sisters are smiling right now!" She looks away, her mind beginning to fill with countless memories of her little brother, from the day she first held him all the way to this point. She can see the first time he had a crush on a girl and how she helped him make her a valentine, of course without telling the other sisters, followed by the time she encouraged him to swim and jump off the diving board at the local pool. There was that time they played laser tag and made him suit when he got a cold!

And she remembers the time he challenged her to see who was better at keeping the house from falling apart, _"I knew he would have a hard time… but I really do wish he had succeeded…"_ She begins to tear up, while giving a soft smile, "I remember Lincoln, I remember…"

"Good." Lincoln smiles, "You know you're still my favorite sister, right?" he speaks with a soft voice, "And you shouldn't count yourself short too." He cracks a soft smile, allowing his mind to flood with fond memories as well.

"You mean it Linc?" The young woman turns to him as well.

The boy nods, "Yeah! You're the only person I know that could run a trip like this and not have it fall into utter chaos! I just know you're gonna be a great mom too!"

" _I know I will… and he knows it too… There's no reason for me to argue…"_ With tear filled eyes, the Lori wraps both of her arms around her brother, "I love you Lincoln." Though of course, a certain thought intrudes, _"You're the worst! Why can't you see that?"_

And Lincoln does the same, "I love you too, Lori."

The young woman's eyes fill with determination, _"But, how can I be the worst if Lincoln trusts me like this? I know who I am and what I've done to make him happy."_ Her eyes soften as they fall upon her brother, _"Everything I've done… I've done for him. And none of it was for naught."_

" _You-"_

" _Shut up."_ Lori's thoughts fill with venom, _"You've done nothing, but cause me to lock myself away in shame! Be quiet and don't talk unless you have something productive to say."_ And with that, her mind goes blank, with no response from her intrusive thoughts.

"You ok Lori?" Lincoln whispers.

"Yeah… I was just remembering the time you accidentally broke into mom's make-up cabinet." The young woman whispers, "You looked so cute afterwards."

"I remember the time you taught me how to keep the house from burning down while mom and dad were off on their date." Lincoln responds, "And the time you fed me my first ice cream."

"It was Mint Chocolate Chip. That's all the store had, but you loved it anyways." Lori quips.

And with that, the duo sits under the blossoming tree, telling all of the stories they can remember until sunrise begins to push its way over the horizon.

"Hey Lori..." Lincoln whispers, breaking the soft silence that had formed between them.

"Yeah?" She responds.

"Where are we? I thought we were still at the motel."

The young woman's heart sinks, _"Memory loss..."_ she does her best to keep herself from breaking down on the spot. "We were, we just came here for a bit, you know."

"Oh right..." he responds, seemingly unaware of what just occurred.

"Anyways, I guess it's time to go." Lori breaks the embrace and stands up, "The girls are probably waiting for us or something."

Lincoln does the same, "I wouldn't be surprised if they were." He chuckles.

And with that, they climb into Vanzilla and drive off, getting ready to pick up the rest of their siblings.

* * *

"Where have you two been?!" Luna flares her arms, "Mom and dad called while you were gone! They want you to drive us home **now**!"

"Lincoln and I were just taking a trip." Lori rubs her little brother's head, "Isn't that right?"

"Really?" Leni tilts her head in curiosity, "What'd you do on it?"

"Nothing really..." Lincoln shrugs.

Lori's heart sinks, _"We literally did more than nothing..."_ she does her best to fight the painful tears forcing themselves from her eyes, "You girls ready to go? The van's all warmed up."

The girls nod before following Lori and Lincoln into the vehicle, allowing them to finally drive off.

For the next few hours, the forest, beaches and random rest stops that had defined their road trip pass by, reminding them of all they had done the past several days.

 _"For Lincoln... this was all for Lincoln..."_ Lori can't help but find herself gazing out her side window, taking in the many sights along the way.

For a moment, she imagines them driving down Aloha Beach's Sunset expressway once more, the beach on her left and the random hotels on her right.

Of course, the random noise of her family is right behind her.

Soon, she finds herself looking at her white-haired brother, her mind racing back to the night the whole ordeal began, _"I wonder what would've happened if he didn't seize up that night... we'd probably just had abnormal trip home, hit up a rest stop here and there... but nothing too major."_

She lets one of her hands release her grip on the wheel, moving it to feel a certain growing bump once more, hoping to feel a small heartbeat... though of course she knows it's too soon to do. _"I'll be a great mother... I know it... and Lincoln knows it too..."_ her heart sinks at the thought, _"The Doctor didn't lie... Though I wish he did."_ she shakes her head, _"We did everything we could to take care of him."_

And with that Lori sighs, before driving onwards, towards the rising sun.

* * *

It is nightfall when they reach Royal Woods. At this point, the majority of the loud children had fallen asleep, the exhaustion finally catching up to them. Vanzilla pulls into the town square, where Lori swears she can see Bobby working and Ronnie Anne waving them along.

She takes the chance to turn down a familiar block and pass by a rather large home, allowing Clyde to catch a glimpse of her and start bleeding out his nose. _"They're all gonna find out the truth soon enough..."_

Yet, as much as it pains her to know the inevitable, she gives a soft sigh, _"But, this is all for the best. We did everything we could for Lincoln. We did our best to make it the best summer ever."_ she looks up towards the star-filled sky, _"I hope we succeeded."_

And with that, she turns and pulls up into a familiar driveway next to a white home, before pulling the keys from the ignition.

"We're home."

1 19-21-13-13-5-18 9-14 20-8-5 8-9-12-12-19 9-19 1-12-23-1-25-19 20-15 18-5-13-5-13-2-5-18

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! That firefly scene has been in my mind since I started planning "Legacy Of The Shadowman" and was supposed to be between Ronnie Anne and Lincoln, but it really seemed to fit here better than there. Anyways, see you guys in 1-2 weeks! And as always, feel free to PM me and join the Loud House discord if you'd like to talk!**

 **Also, I posted a one-shot yesterday called, "A Loud In Time" Feel free to check it out!**

 **Songs used:  
** **Forest Rain - A Summer In The Stars Link: (Youtube): v=FhTEu3W39Gw  
** **TheFatRat - Monody (feat. Laura Brehm) Link: (Youtube):** **v=B7xai5u_tnk  
** **TheFatRat - Unity Link: (Youtube): v=n8X9_MgEdCg**

 **Guest Reviews (C17)**

 **Guest: Thanks! I try my best!**


	19. A Day At Home

**A/N Hey guys, my exhaustion and sorcery continue this week! Heh, I spent all of last week penning C19, only to hate it because it had no transitions before going into it all. So I shelved that and it's gonna be C20. I had to work overtime to get this chapter done on time. I hope you guys enjoy it! I thank Sesquipedalian Numeral for looking over this chapter and everyone on the LH Discord who helped me out!**

 **R &R!**

Chapter Nineteen: A Day At Home

"We're home." Lori's gaze falls upon her numerous siblings and repeats with a sigh, "We're finally home…"

Though, much to her relief, none them reply. Instead, they choose to continue their slumber, filling the van with their soft snores.

" _Nothing could possibly go wrong now… right?_ Slowly, she turns, allowing her gaze to fall upon her siblings- their sleeping expresses speak as if nothing had happened the past few days. Like all of the fear and pain they had felt was nothing more than a foreign dream to them all. _"We're home now…"_

But, after years of taking care of her siblings, Lori knows that some dreams must come to an end.

"Hey guys… wake up." She whispers, though her words are easily drowned out. She takes a deep breath in defeat _, "Maybe I should just let them rest for a but… they look so peaceful, right?_ " Her gaze softens, and she shakes her head, purging the thought from her mind, _"No Lori… summer's over and the only person trying to keep them from going home now is you…"_ Slowly, she finds her gaze falling upon her siblings once more, her eyes taking in their soft features.

From what she can see, Luan, Luna and Lily occupy the front row, with Lily sitting in her booster seat while her older sisters sit on her sides. Behind them sits Leni, Lynn and Lucy.

Interestingly enough, the oldest among them doesn't seem dizzy despite the drive. _"I guess that sleeping through it all really helped her out."_ the young woman then takes a glance at the final row, the one where Lisa, Lana and Lola love to sit.

Normally, that one would be a mess, with the twins constantly fighting while Lisa spouts off about just how dangerous the act of driving is. Yet, instead all three of them rest in a small pile, with Lana slightly drooling on her twin's pageant gown, while Lisa used Lana's shoulder as a pillow! _"Heh, it's almost like they're not a safety hazard whenever I drive…"_ she takes another deep breath and turns once more, allowing her gaze to fall upon her white-haired brother.

" _Oh Lincoln…"_ the young woman uses the chance to take in her brother's peaceful visage. _"It's almost like nothing happened…"_ her eyes move from his soft white hair to those freckles of his before resting upon his chipped tooth, _"Now that I think of it, I still don't remember how he got that thing… well besides the fact that we were involved somehow."_

In that moment, she finds her surrounding changing back to those of the day she had first met her only brother- how her mom and dad had come how in a strange car, with the new sibling wrapped in the presidential seal while being carried by a strange woman she could swear she saw on TV. That day, she remembers her mother handing him over to her to hold, and she remembers playing tug-o-war with his little hand. _"'Finally… I have a brother…' That's what I said, right?"_

She slowly turns and pulls the key from the ignition, bringing Vanzilla's engine to halt, _"Lincoln is the best brother a girl could have…"_ she reaches out and rubs his shoulder, prodding him to rise from the slumber he and the rest of their siblings had allowed to overtake them, "Hey Linc, wake up."

Slowly, the young boy's eyes open, while he rubs his head, "Ugh Lori, what's going on?"

"We're home." The young woman speaks with a soft, understanding voice. "We're finally home…"

The young boy lets out a deep breath, "D-do you know if mom and dad are still awake?"

Lori responds by taking his hand in hers and shaking her head, "They might be… but, the moment we all walk through that door, they'll wake up." She turns and looks into his eyes "Are you ready to tell them the truth, yourself?"

Lincoln pauses, his mind beginning to race out of fear, "A-are you sure this is a good idea Lori? I mean, what if… what if?!"

Yet, she places a finger over his mouth, "They already know. The most they'll ask you is if it was your idea or mine to go on the road trip." She looks away, a soft smile forming on her face, "They'll probably ground me for life because of what I did…" she then leans back, holding her hands behind her head and chuckling, "But… I don't care much… you at least had fun on the trip, right?"

"Yeah Lori… yeah." He nods, before turning and grabbing hold of the passenger side door handle.

"Good, now let's go wake up the others, I'm sure mom and dad are gonna want them in bed while they talk to us, or just me if I play my card right." She cracks another soft smile, before turning and hopping out of the van, with her brother following soon after.

A few moments later, she opens the van's side door as well, revealing the way out for their sleeping sisters. "Hey guys! We're home!"

Tiredly, the siblings stir from their slumber, some taking the moment to moan in exhaustion, with Lola shoving Lana away once she notices what her twin had done in their slumber.

"Lori, what's going on?" Leni rubs her eyes as she hops out of the family van, "Is it morning already?"

"No Leni." Lori shakes her head, before glancing at the rest of her siblings, "We're home everyone." She turns and begins to step forward, "Come on, let's get you guys in bed, I don't know about you, but driving is tiring.

And none of the siblings choose to argue with her, instead following as she walks over to the front door and opens it up, causing their parents to come into view.

"Finally!" Lynn Sr. crosses his arms, "You've finally come home!"

"S-sorry we're late…" Lori rubs the back of her head in embarrassment.

For a moment, Rita considers continuing her husband's angry greeting, yet she chooses to relent, taking a deep breath before giving her children a sympathetic look, "Are you guys all right?"

"Yeah…" Lynn quickly speaks up, looking away as she does so, before everyone else follows suit, giving similar sentiments.

Their father takes a deep breath as well with that, before looking at his daughters, though he keeps his arms crossed, "All right then, if that's the case, the everyone head up to your rooms and get ready for bed…" his gaze falls upon his only son and eldest daughter, "Except for you two. Your mother and I want a word with you."

" _I saw this coming."_ Lori nods, "All right dad… all right."

And with that, the duo's nine siblings head up, no doubt standing wherever they can so they can hear what is about to happen.

Rita and Lynn Sr. then motion for the duo to follow, before making them sit in front of the at the dinner table.

For a few minutes after that, the quartet sits in silence, with none of them sure just how to break through it all… well, that is, until Rita speaks up, "So, care to tell us why you all came home so late? You were supposed to leave Aloha beach three days after we left for our conference."

Lori hesitates for a moment, making sure to glance at Lincoln as she does so, only to take deep breath when he looks back at her, "Mom… dad…" she looks up at her parents with a begging gaze, "The night you guys left, Lincoln had a seizure…"

"And?" Lynn Sr. Raises an eye in curiosity, "Why didn't you call us?!"

"The moment that happened, I called for an ambulance!" She turns towards the boy once more, her eyes filling with despair, "I-I didn't know what else to do. So Lynn and I took him to the hospital… that's where the doctors diagnosed him with Lupus…"

"Uhh honey, you ever heard of Lupus?" Lynn Sr. turn towards his wife.

The woman pauses for a moment and sighs, "I had a patient in doctor Feinstein's office that had the condition… but she never mentioned anything about seizures…"

Lori turns back to Lincoln and sighs, "His case is worse than most… that's what I found out from the doctors at least…"

"Is this all true Lincoln?" Lynn Sr. turns to face his son, the white haired boy seemingly trying to shrink out of view, but to no avail.

He nods, "Yeah dad… it all is…" he looks up, his voice wavering against his father's gaze, "W-we found out that I'm really sick and that the seizure was a sign that I was very far along." He tries to look into the man's eyes, but instead ends up rubbing the back of his head, "So… they gave me medicine for the pain and to stop seizures… and told me that memory loss would be the last stage, right?"

Lori hates having to nod in confirmation. To think everything that did together, the joy and smiles he had made with their siblings over the years, just forgotten- lost in the sea of chaos that is their family. Why, she has to fight to keep her composure at the thought. "And… so I decided that because of what's happening… that it would be a good idea to have some fun before the summer ended, ya know?" She rubs the back of her head, seemingly trying to dance around what she did.

For a moment, the parents stare at the duo, their minds abuzz with possible solutions, though of course they know none of them would work.

" _We should've been there for them…"_ Lynn Sr. clutches his fist and stares into his eldest daughter's eyes, "We told you to come home three days after you guys left Aloha Beach, and here you are finally coming home a week later!"

"And you did this while knowing that Lincoln is sick!" Rita adds, shaking her head in disappointment as she does so, "Do you know what could've happened because of what you did?!"

The young woman remains silent, choosing instead to simply look down at the table rather than look into the disappointed visages of her parents.

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?!" Lynn Sr.'s voice fills with anger.

In response, all Lori can do is sigh, "I... I thought that it'd be a good idea to have some fun after finding out what's going on with Lincoln..." her voice trails off.

"Even then, what you did was wholly irresponsible of you." The man raises his finger and waves it at his daughter, "We didn't know you were out doing this! What would you have done if you got lost or something worse?!"

Once again, the young woman remains silent. _"There's no reason to try and defend myself... I did what I could to make Lincoln happy. After all, this might very well be the last summer he'll get to spend with us..."_ she fights the urge to tear up right hen and there.

"Go to your room, your father and I are gonna talk about your punishment, is that clear?" Rita leans back in her chair, "And Lincoln…"

The young boy looks at his mother in fear, hoping that his punishment wouldn't be severe as well.

"We're gonna go look for a doctor as soon as possible, hopefully we can find a way to fix what's wrong with you, ok sweetie?" Rita's eyes fill with sorrow.

The boy nods with that, "All right mom… all right." Though deep down, they both know that there is nothing they can possibly do about what's going on.

"Good, now both of you, up to your rooms." The man declares, before motioning for his children to leave their presence, and they do so without question,

And so, Lori begins to make her way up the Loud House stairs with Lincoln following closely behind. For a moment, they consider talking to each other about what had just occurred- maybe mention how lucky they are that their parents decided to give some leeway to them due to the circumstances.

And yet, all Lincoln can say to Lori is, "Goodnight…"

And she replies by running her hand trough his soft, pure white hair, "Goodnight Lincoln…" before they break off for the night, no doubt their other sisters have already went to bed.

"So… what are we gonna do now?" Rita stares at the table, her mind abuzz with what had just occurred.

Her husband rubs her back and speaks with a sympathetic tone, "I don't know honey… I don't know…" he turns her to face him, "Bur no matter what, Lincoln is priority right now…" he pauses, still unsure of what else to say.

And Rita nods in agreement, "He's our top priority now…"

 _ **The Next Morning…**_

"Ugh…" Lincoln groans, holding his hand up to block the soft sunlight attacking his eyes, _"Morning already?"_ Slowly, he pulls on his in a desperate attempt to get out of bed, only for his body to shout out for him to relent. _"This already isn't looking good."_ He moves his arms to his sides and pushes, ignoring the pain while he groans in discomfort. _"I have to lie down…"_

Yet, he pushes onwards, forcing himself to balance on his own two feet before taking a look around. _"After an entire summer of adventure… in finally home."_ For a moment, he takes in the almost unfamiliar sight of his room- from the random action figures strewn about to the drawer that had had always complained was just too smell, to the coat rack that always seems to intrude in his space, all of them seeming foreign to him, _"At least I won't have to share a room with them…"_

" _But… what I wouldn't give to have that chance again…"_ He can't help but let his mind wander for a bit, _"Yeah… I'll admit, it was pretty awkward having to share a room with them all, but I don't mind much…"_ He can't help, but chuckle at the memory, before he turns and opens up his door, allowing a familiar sight to come into view: A ridiculously long line for their only bathroom.

" _Some things just never change around here."_ He cracks a smile at the thought and shakes his head, before walking over to queue behind Lynn.

However, before he can get comfortable, the young woman to turns and smiles at him, "Mornin' Linc!" She steps aside, "Gotta use it or something? Why don't you go on ahead?"

Instantly the rest of the sisters turn and smile as well, "Go on Linc! We can wait!"

"N-no, I'm fine." Lincoln waves them off… only for Luna to come to his side and rub his head, "No worries bro, we insist. Go in ahead."

" _They're just being nice because I'm sick, right?"_ Lincoln shakes his head, purging the thought from his mind, "No, really, I mean it, you guys can stay-"

"Come on Linky!" Leni steps out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. "You always have to wait! How about this time, you like get the bathroom to yourself for as long as you want?"

" _They're trying to be nice…"_ Lincoln's gaze softens, falling upon his sisters as it does so. He finds them all staring at him, putting on the biggest smiles they can possibly muster… though it's obvious that it's all an act, _"On any other day, I'd think that this was nothing more than some elaborate prank or them wanting my help…"_ He mentally sighs and steps into the room, closing the door behind him as he does so, leaving his sisters standing in the hallway.

Their soft smiles quickly devolve into pained frowns, though they all know that none of them would let him see them… that is, until they just wouldn't be able to hold them anymore.

It takes a few minutes for him to get through what he needs to do, and by the time he's done, he steps out with his body wrapped in a towel and his sisters standing aside. Silently, he's thankful that they don't try to help him through the hallway… though he can swear that Lola is tempted to.

" _I just wonder what we're gonna do now…"_ the young boy's mind begins to wander once more, over to the random thoughts about just what could happen next. They could have the easy path, they go to school, learn a bit more, then when Lincoln starts to become bedridden due to his illness, he'd stay home… sometimes alone to suffer.

He shudders at that idea, _"That's not too hopeful… even if I did end up in bed, I wouldn't be that alone, right?"_ He finds his gaze moving to the window, "Right?"

*Ring* "Lincoln! Come in!" A familiar radio comes to the life with a familiar voice coming on the other side.

Quickly, the young boy grabs the device and lifts it up to his ear, "Hey Clyde, what's up?"

"I saw Lori drive by last night, is it true? Did you guys get back from vacation?" his young friend's voice fills with hope, "Things have been boring without you around!"

"Yeah, we're back…" Lincoln hesitates, _"Should I tell him? He deserves to know as much as anyone else…"_ He quickly shakes his head, _"No. Not right now."_

"You wanna hang out today? I mean, there's nothing much else to do you know?" Clyde's voice fills with a soft hope.

" _After everything that's happened…"_ the white-haired boy's mind begins to flood with thoughts, _"What would we even do together?"_

"Lincoln?" He asks.

" _I-I can't tell him yet, but that's the only thing I could possibly do if I go over to him, right?"_ He looks away, "I'm a bit tired today… could we hang out some other time? Definitely before school starts."

"All right Linc! That works out!" And with that, the line goes dead, prompting the white-haired boy to shove the device in his back pocket, _"He's going to find out eventually…"_

*Knock* *knock* A familiar sound cuts off his train of thought, "Hey Linc, its Lori."

Quickly, the young boy dresses himself and opens up, allowing his eldest sister to come into view. She sports a downcast expression with bags under her eyes. "Hey Lori, what's up?" He tilts his head and takes in more of her features. Unlike her typical tank top and shorts, she now wears a slightly larger set of shorts with a sky-blue sweater, no doubt to try and hide the bulge growing in her abdomen.

She pauses for a moment, before speaking with a weary tone, "Hey Lincoln… how are you feeling?"

The young boy pauses for a moment, before taking a deep breath and grabbing his bottle of medicine off his desk. "I'm all right I guess…" He proceeds to screw off the top and down his medicine without a second thought. "How about you?"

Lori rubs the back of her head, "I'm all right…" she looks into his eyes, "I wondering… would you mind taking a walk with me? I'm not allowed to take the van because mom and dad are worried about me taking you away again…."

For a moment, Lincoln hesitates his answer, _"I'm gonna hang out with Clyde today, right? And won't the others want me to stay behind?"_ and yet, once his eyes fall upon his sister's begging gaze, he relents nodding in agreement, "All right then, all right… where are we going?"

"To meet up with Bobby and Ronnie Anne… they're back in their old home for the summer and I think they'd really like to see us." She wraps her arms around him, "I know you like Ronnie Anne. There's no need to worry…"

Instantly, they boy's checks go red in embarrassment, though his face rash does a good job of hiding It all, "I don't like her!"

He young woman smiles in response, "Of course you don't." She runs her hand through his ashen hair, "But, you still wanna see her, don't ya?"

As much as he wants to decline, the young boy finds himself nodding in agreement. "Yeah… but I promised Clyde we'd hang out today!"

"You can go visit him after we go over to Bobby and Ronnie Anne." She stands up straight, "How's that?"

Lincoln hesitates for a short moment, taking the chance to look at his sisters still standing in line.

"Don't worry Linc, I made sure to tell everyone." Lori speaks with a soft voice, "They know where I'm going and are all right with it." She continues to rub his head, "All you gotta do is say yes."

And so, Lincoln nods, "Fine… I guess going to visit Ronnie Anne today couldn't hurt…"

Lori mentally cheers and smiles, before taking hold of her little brother's hand, "All right then, then off we go!"

With that, the duo heads out of their home.

* * *

A few minutes later, the duo stands outside a familiar home. Its light blue pain and contrasting black roof is a stark contrast to the white and black and reds they had grown up with, not that they mind of course.

"So, ready for this?" Lori looks down at her younger brother, "It's been a few days since you saw Ronnie Anne you know."

"Yeah, and a while since you saw Bobby." He looks up to her with a chuckle, before pulling ever so slightly, motioning for her to approach the door with him, and she complies, "You told him about the baby?"

"Course I told him." She sighs, and places her free hand on her growing bump. "I just really wanted to see him today…" And with that, she rings the door bell, "Hey Boo Boo Bear, I'm here!" She speaks in a singsong voice. "And I brought Lincoln along too!"

The door opens almost immediately, revealing Bobby and Ronnie Anne, both of them smiling in joy… with the young man wasting no time coming in close and wrapping his arms around her, with her following suit soon after, "How's the mother of my baby going?"

"I'm well Bobby." She places a soft kiss on his cheek. "I really wanted to see you today!" And with that, they hug, just like they had countless times before.

Nearby, Ronnie Anne places a playful punch upon Lincoln's shoulder, "Hey Lame-O, what's up?"

"Nothing much Ronnie Anne." Lincoln blushes and looks away, running the spot she punched as he does so, "Wanna go up to your old room and play some video games?"

The young girl nods in agreement, "Sure! But I'm not gonna hold back!"

"I wouldn't count on it." He smiles in response, before the duo rushes inside, leaving their old siblings behind.

"So, what's going on Babe?" Bobby asks with a smile.

"Nothing much…" Lori pushes him away and rubs her arm, "I just… I just wanted to talk, you know? It's been a while since we met up and stuff and…" her voice trails off for a moment, before picking up once again, "And I need to talk to you about Lincoln."

Bobby nods and steps aside, allowing Lori to enter his summer home.

* * *

"I got you this time, Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln declares as his character ducks and weaves under his companion's, before sending a fist up into the character's face… causing their health bar to decrease just a little, "Haha! Fear me."

"Not gonna lie lame-O, you're getting better at the game." Ronnie Anne chuckles, before countering Lincoln's attack without hesitation, "But you've still got a long way to go if you wanna beat me!" And with that, she sends her character flying at Lincoln's before unleashing a barrage of fists so powerful that a mushroom cloud in the shape of a fist forms once the final blow is dealt, causing Lincoln's character to fall to the ground in defeat.

Game over! Those words flash on screen after that, prompting Lincoln to toss his controller aside and drop back in exhaustion. "Heh, still unbeatable as always I see." He can't help, but chuckle after that.

Ronnie Anne does the same and lies down at his side, "Heh of course Lame-O, just because you're my friend doesn't mean that I'm gonna go easy on you!"

" _Yeah, she's a friend…"_ Lincoln does his best to stifle his growing blush, _"A friend you've kissed…"_ he smiles, "So, what do you wanna do know?"

Ronnie Anne rubs her chin for a moment, "Hmm, well since you're here, wanna talk about that road trip? Lori told my brother that you guys were gonna be on it for a while."

For a moment, Lincoln hesitates, his mind beginning to fill with the countless thoughts about what he and his siblings had done, only for him to shrug in response, "Sure I guess, I guess it couldn't hurt." He turns to her, "Where do you want me to start though?"

"From the beginning!" She speaks with a playful voice, "I mean, where else can you start?"

"Heh, good point." The young boy rubs his chin for a moment, "Well then I guess we started back in Aloha beach. Mom and dad had to go leave for some conventions and stuff so they left us alone."

"Lucky you." The young girl replied with a chuckle, "I can't imagine my family leaving me alone like that, they'd probably try to get me to follow them around or something!"

Lincoln shrugs and cracks a smile, "Well, what can you say? When you've got a family as big as mine, you're bound to get some time to yourselves sometimes."

"True, true." Ronnie Anne leans in closer, "But, what gave Lori the idea for a road trip though? I'm sure your mom and dad would just want you to go home after your rooms expired, right?" She tilts her head in curiosity.

"That they did, that they did." Lincoln hesitates, _"I can't tell her the real reason why, right?"_ His gaze falls upon her hopeful and curious eyes, _"It would break her heart if I told her the truth right now… just like it did to the girls"_ A shiver rushes through his spine as he chuckles, "But Lori decided that a road trip would be a great way to end the summer, so she decided to take us on one."

"Huh, that sounds pretty cool actually." Ronnie Anne smiles, "So besides going to Dairyland with Bobby and me, what else did you guys do on your trip?"

Lincoln rubs his chin for a moment, trying to recount just what exactly happened during those few days they were on the road. Only to find some of the thoughts eluding him, "Well, we went to a carnival, a poetry guild, and we camped for a night." He rubs the back of his head, "And visited the mall at least once or twice."

"Of course." Ronnie Anne giggles. "Your sisters just never change, do they?"

The boy smiles and shrugs, "I don't really know, but I'd rather not try and find out, ya know?"

"I can dig it." The young girl nods, "I'll be honest, I'd never wanna see your sisters change either. I think they're perfect just the way they are."

"I wholeheartedly agree." Lincoln looks away for a moment, _"But they're going to change the worse this gets…"_ He nudges Ronnie Anne, "How about you? I know you and Bobby went to Canada and saw stuff up there."

The young girl nods, "Yeah, we saw the falls, climbed a giant tower and just had a fun time walking around and seeing the sights." She turns back to him, "Though I told you all this stuff the last time we met up, didn't I?"

Lincoln's heart sinks, " _You probably did… I just didn't remember it…"_ for a moment, he considers telling her that he did forget- to reveal the truth to her and reveal the real reason they had gone on the trip. _"The only reason why Lori called you over was because she found out she was pregnant… it only makes sense that way…"_

And yet, he finds himself waving her off, "Nah, I'm sure you didn't." He chuckles, "How about on the way home? Did you see anything interesting there?"

The young girl rubs her chin in thought, "Hmm, now that I think of it, yeah actually. I remember seeing this white-haired girl driving right next to us!" She throws her head back in laughter, "For a second I though you had decided to dress up at a girl so no one would recognize you!"

" _That must've been Sambell…"_ the young boy cracks a relieved smile, _"At least I think she's ok…"_ before he hesitates once more, "Ronnie Anne… I've been thinking of stuff…"

The young girl tilts her head in confusion, "Uhh, what kind of stuff Lincoln?"

"Remember when we first met? How you used to bully me?" He continues, rubbing his arm in embarrassment. _"Come on Linc, don't blow this!"_

Ronnie Anne rubs the back of her head, "Y-yeah… you told me to meet you outside your place and you ended up kissing me, so I gave you a black eye."

"Heh yeah…." He turns back to her, "And I know we kissed on that double date and after going on the tunnel of love…" His heart races as he looks into her eyes, "I just wanted to say… I like you Ronnie Anne, like like you… that's why I kissed you that day…" He blushes and looks away. _"Please work…"_

Instantly, the young girl blushes and pauses, seemingly unsure of how to take the revelation.

"I know it's-" Lincoln tries to start, and yet before he can finish, his companion plants her lips on his, before pulling back, "That's enough Lame-O, I like you too."

And Lincoln smiles at that.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"So, what's going on?" Bobby raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "How was your road trip?"

" _I can't tell him just yet…"_ Lori takes a deep breath and smiles at her boyfriend, "I'd like to say, it was pretty good…" She chuckles, "My mom and dad grounded me from driving for a month because of it though."

"What?!" Bobby's eyes go wide in shock, "How come babe?! You were just out having fun with your sisters and brothers!"

"Well… I kinda did it without their permission is why…" her voice trails off and she looks away shamefully, "That and well… because of Lincoln…"

Bobby tilts his head in confusion, "Uhh… what are you talkin' about Lori?"

" _Am I really gonna do this? I promised Lincoln that I wouldn't go that far with this…"_ She turns back to face Bobby with a soft gaze, "Bobby… Lincoln is sick…"

"What are you talking about?" The young man can't help but tilt his head other way, still unsure of what to make of her words, "I just saw him! He was perfectly fine…" he rubs his chin, "Well… besides that rash on his face…"

"Bobby… that's part of it." She shakes her head, "He's been taking medicine to keep the symptoms at bay, but that's all they're doing. He's getting sicker by the day and I just don't know what to do!" She leans away from him, "And I came by because I knew he would wanna talk to Ronnie Anne while he could…."

Bobby leans back, against the couch, taking the chance to hesitate as he does so, "Well… I don't know how to respond to that babe…"

"I didn't expect you to." She sighs in defeat, before leaning back as well, allowing Bobby to wrap his arm around her. _"All I've been thinking about ever since that happened has been Lincoln, well it was… until I found out I've got a problem to deal with myself…"_

"Do you… wanna talk about him?" Bobby raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I mean, I'm sure it could-"

"No, no." The young woman shakes her head, "Please no… I just… wanna talk about something else." She looks away, _"I need to get my mind off the inevitable…"_

"Would you mind talking about your trip to Canada? Maybe that'll help me get my mind off this…"

"Sure." Bobby nods, before standing up straight and walking over to a nearby bookcase, and pulling out a small album, "My mom just loved taking photos, she managed to fill this whole thing with just one trip!" He walks over and sits down once more, placing the book between them as he does so, "She's always saying that these are a great way to save memories and stuff, and as much as I'd like to argue that these could be a bit excessive, I can't help but find myself agreeing with her."

Suddenly, Lori finds herself grabbing onto the book and beginning to rifle through it all. She pays no mind to her boyfriend's explanations of what's going on in each, while she feels an idea beginning to fill her thoughts, _"I can't do anything to save Lincoln and I've done my best to make sure that this summer is would be memorable, right? Maybe Bobby's onto something…"_ Her mind begins to race with possibilities. What could they possibly do now that they're back? Nothing much to do now that they're home besides… just be around for him, right? _"But… maybe that's all he needs, right?"_

Her eyes begin to widen in realization, before she hops to her feet and throws her arms around the young man, placing a soft kiss on his cheek as she does so, "That gives me a great idea! Thanks so much Bobby!"

And the young man smiles, "No problem Lori."

 _ **A Few Minutes Later….**_

"See ya!" Lori waves the duo off, "See you later!"

Lincoln smiles and hugs his companion "See you at school Ronnie Anne."

"Same here Lame-O, same here." And with that, the duo breaks up, before heading off on another walk.

"I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for some sauerkraut and vanilla ice cream." Lori chuckles.

And Lincoln rubs his chin, "So am I…" He raises an eyebrow and looks up at his sister, "Uhh… weird pregnancy cravings?"

Lori chuckles, "Yeah." She tugs him along, "But, before we go, don't you wanna go see Clyde?"

The young boy pauses for a moment, "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean you know how he gets around you…"

Yet, the young woman waves him off, "Come on, it won't be that bad. He's had some time away from us to cool off, right?" She looks into his eyes, "I mean…" Suddenly, the realization hits her. Her brother's begging gaze fills her eyes, _"He doesn't wanna see him right now…"_

She sighs, "All right then, lets go get the ice cream… I'm sure we can visit Clyde some other time, right?"

Lincoln smiles and nods, "Thanks Lori…"

And with that the duo heads off in search of their ice cream.

 _ **Later…**_

"Hey guys, we're home." Lori carefully opens the front door and steps inside, Lincoln following soon after, "Anyone home?"

"Yep!" Lana quickly slides down the stairs and lands in front of the duo, "wanna go catch bugs with me?!"

Lincoln's gaze softens, before he runs his hand through her soft, blonde hair, "In sorry Lana, but I'm really tired right now… how about later? That way I'll be really rested and we can play for a long time."

The young girls pouts, but nods in understanding, "Ok Lincoln… I think I understand." She sighs, before Lincoln walks passed the duo, leaving them standing alone in the living room.

Immediately, Lori squats down to Lana's height and looks into her eyes, determination filling her gaze, "Lana, I need you to go tell everyone that there's a sibling meeting going on, meet in my room."

The young girl tilts her head in confusion, before shrugging, "All right I guess, all right."

And with that, they both head upstairs.

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

"All right girls, I bring this meeting to order." Lori slams her shoe on her podium, though since none of the sisters were talking, none of them have to quiet down. Lori takes a deep breath, "You all know why we're here, right?"

"Not really." Luna crosses her arms and leans back, against one of the walls, "All Lana told us is that you wanted to have a sibling meeting."

"Right…" The young woman pauses for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "Girls… I've been thinking there isn't much we can do about Lincoln being sick… right?" Her gaze falls upon her toddler sister, the young girl typing away at her mini laptop as she does so. No doubt she is trying to calculate exactly what a cure for Lincoln's condition would require.

The toddler shakes her head, "He'll be fine! As soon as I finish these calculations I'll be able to administer a cure for him and then he'll be fine!" Yet, from her incredibly frenzied smile and the bags under her eyes, it's obvious that that is a lie.

"So I was thinking that, now that we're home, we could just come along and be there for him." The young woman's gaze falls upon her sisters, each of them seemingly unsure of how to respond to the request… well save for Lynn.

"What are you talking about, Lori?" The young athlete approaches her eldest sister with an angry expression, "Don't you know that we're doing our best?!" She flares her arms at the pregnant woman, "What else do you want us to do?"

" _Stupid… that was stupid of me. Of course they're doing their best!"_ She takes a deep breath and grabs onto Lynn's shoulders, "Come on, calm down."

"I am calm!" She counters, "I wanna know what you want us to do! Why'd you call us into this stupid meeting when Lincoln's alone in his room!"

" _I have to change the mood…"_ Lori slowly moves her eyes around the room, allowing her to take in the sight of her siblings. Each other them not even bothering to look at her- save for Lynn of course- while off doing their own things. "Girls, I want you to think of a good time you've had with him."

"Uhh… why?" Lola tilts her head in confusion.

She sighs, "Just do it please…" Her voice fills with a begging tone, "It'll make sense in a few, I promise, ok?"

The girls relent and silence overtakes them again.

"I've been thinking…" Lori looks at her sisters once more, "We have to make whatever time we have left with Lincoln as memorable as possible."

"We know, isn't that why you took us on that road trip?" Lucy appears by her sister, her meek voice filling the quiet room.

The young woman rubs the back of her head, "Y-yeah… but that was different." The looks Lucy in the eyes, "I promise."

"How?" Luan speaks with a monotone voice, "There really isn't much we can do now and you know it!" her gaze wavers against her elder sister, "We spent an entire summer not knowing the truth and now you think everything's just gonna be fine and dandy just because we know now?!"

Lori remains silent, unsure of just how to counter her argument.

"So what do you wanna do, Lori?" Lana raises an eyebrow.

" _I've been running from that question ever since I found out…"_ She looks away, the words needed to counter their arguments allude her, taunting her with their presence.

"Hey! Look what I found!" Leni cuts through the tense silence, before pulling out a small, disposable camera from the pile of Lori's luggage. "Like, I totes can take selfies with this!"

" _The disposable camera I bought?"_ Suddenly, a rush of ideas begin to floods the young woman's mind, causing her eyes to go wide in realization, before a soft smile forms on her face and tears begin to make their way down her cheeks. "I think I know what we can do for Lincoln…"

"What would that be, Lori?" Luna tilts her head in curiosity.

She stands up straight, walks over and takes the camera from Leni, its familiar weight fills her hands for a moment, _"There's only one thing we can do for our brother."_ She returns to the podium and looks out at her sisters, "Just keep going strong for him."

"We're already doing that!" Lynn flares her arms in frustration, "After we found out, we decided to go out and help him out! What more can we do?!"

"But, did any of you take any photos of where we went?" Lori's gaze softens, "I think we should stay strong for him, keep going on and making memories with him…" She adverts her gaze, taking the chance to clutch the camera as she does so, "Even if he can't remember what we do…"

"But what's the point then?!" Lola cuts in, pain and anger filling her voice, "If he'll just forget it all, then why are we even gonna bother?!"

"Because, Lola…" Lori raises her eyes once more, "Memories never change, and it is better to have made something for all of us to hang onto than not." She speaks with a motherly tone, "For Lincoln, let's make more memories."

The girls look amongst themselves with that, seemingly trying to look for an argument.

"Girls… what do you think of that?" The young woman's voice wavers against her sisters, _"For them and for him. This is for all of them."_

And so, the girls nod in agreement, none of them saying a word to argument; though of course, some sigh as well… and Lori can swear that at least one of them wishes to fight back against her.

8-15-12-4-9-14-7 15-14 13-5-13-15-18-9-5-19 14-5-22-5-18 3-8-1-14-7-5…

 **A/N So how was that guys?! I hope you all enjoyed! Man, I'm so tired from writing so late while dealing with classes 6 days a week. Anyways, I'm planning for next chapter to be like an epilogue of sorts to end the story on. I hope you guys have enjoyed this so far! See you next week when I post the final chapter of this story!**

 **Also, feel free to PM me about the Loud House discord! We'd love to have you guys around!**


	20. Memories Never Change

**A/N Wow, I really can't believe I've gotten this far. After over a year and a half of work (Counting a five-month hiatus) it is my great pleasure to present the final chapter of Unwavering Bonds! I hope you enjoy and I thank Sesquipedalian Numeral for all of his help in finishing this chapter!**

 **R &R! **

Chapter Twenty: Memories Never Change

" _I can't believe it's been so long…"_ Slowly, Lori finds herself making her way down the Loud House stairs, her gaze wandering over towards her destination- the living room couch, where her nine sisters and two parents sit awaiting her arrival. _"It's been over a year since we went on that road trip… Since we found out about what was happening to our brother…"_

With a soft turn, she faces her family, "Hey everyone… sorry I kept you waiting." Her voice fills with regret, "The twins were a handful this morning and-"

"Don't worry, we know." Rita raises her hand, silencing her eldest daughter, "Why don't you come join us? Luan was just about to finish setting up the player."

The young woman nods and steps forward, taking a seat in what Lincoln had once called the living room's "sweet spot". _"I can't believe it's been so long since he was here… fighting with us over who would be allowed to have the TV remote… And now none of us are vying for it"_ She finds her eyes wandering over towards her family, their soft, remorse-filled expressions speak louder than any words ever could. She can feel their longing for the days of old- when they had their brother to duck, dodge push and shove his way through everything that stood in his way.

But, even she knows that those days are long gone, and nothing will ever bring them back.

" _Some things have to change eventually, and when they do, they'll never turn back."_ Lori takes a moment to blink, dong her best not think about the circumstances that had brought them to this point- sitting in front of their TV while waiting for the comedian to finish fiddling with it all.

"How are you all feeling?" Lori speaks up, breaking through the soft silence that had overtaken her family as she does so. Though, she already knows what their answer would be.

"I'm all right…" Luna's voice trails off, "I can't believe it's been a year already…"

"Neither can I…" Lynn crosses her arms and stares at the carpet, her gaze fixing upon a single strange of the carpet their parents had installed all those years ago. _"It was just yesterday when I was sparring with him, and now… now he's just gone…"_

Nearby, Lisa and Lucy sit close to each other, seemingly trying to enjoy the soft silence, allowing them to work without distraction… well, except for the rush of emotions they have long tried to hide every time Lincoln is mentioned.

For a moment, Leni, Lola and Lana hesitate to cut in- to take the chance and try to lighten the mood.

But, even they know, today is just not the day for a light mood. Even Lily knows that crying out for attention just wouldn't fit into the day's events.

"All right guys… I've set up the player…" Luan takes a deep breath and grabs a stack of disks off the coffee table. "Here we go." And with that, She takes the first disk and slides it in. A few moments pass while the drive reads the disk, but when it finally succeeds in doing so; the family sits back and gives fond smiles.

 _ **A Loud Playtime**_

"Why don't you spend some time with Lily today?" Lori put on a meek smile, silently hoping that he wouldn't question the idea. "I mean, you really haven't done much with her lately, you know…"

For a moment, Lincoln simply watches his older sister, before taking a deep breath in defeat, "All right I guess, that's all right…" Though he can't shake the feeling that she asked him to do this for the sole reason that there is almost no way for him to be injured while playing with her.

"That's great." Lori runs her hand through his soft, white hair, "Lily's in her room right now.

The boy nods in understanding, before turning and walking into the room, leaving Lori alone in the hallway. Slowly, she pulls out the disposable camera and stands by the bedroom door, cracking it open ever so slightly so she can see inside.

"Aww, did someone make a poo-poo?" Lincoln greets with a soft smile.

The baby claps her hands, before grabbing for her brother, "Wincoln!"

He gives her a fond smile, before snuggling close to her, "I love you Lily…" His heart begins to sink, _"But… when I'm gone, will she remember me?"_ He looks down at the soft bundle in his arms, the young girl doing her best to cling to her brother. No doubt she can sense his doubt as well.

"Poo-poo…" She whispers, before letting go and motioning towards a small pile of blocks tucked away in a nearby corner, "Wincoln! Pway!"

" _But… maybe now isn't the best time to think about this stuff…"_ He takes a deep breath and tickles her nose, "Sure, I'll play with you…" With that, he brings her over to the pile and sits down, "So whatcha wanna build?"

"Tower!" The infant flares her arms in excitement, "Tower!" Lincoln smiles and nods, "All right, I'll help you build a home!" He then grabs a small block with an "L" on it, while Lily grabs one with a "Y" and places it next to Lincoln's. "Then she grabs another "L" block, and points to the "I" block.

"Heh, I guess you wanna start by telling everyone that what you're about to make is yours, huh?" The boy chuckles and the infant nods, before grabbing an "N" block and placing it in front of her.

The young boy smiles, and grabs an "L" block, before placing it on top of the first.

Lily rubs her chin for a moment, before snapping her fingers and grabbing an "O" block and adding that to the stack of blocks. And within moments, the duo stacks up more blocks all the way until they have seven letters stacked up.

"Poo-poo!" Lily grabs more blocks and places them next to the big tower, before motioning for Lincoln to read aloud.

"Heh yeah, my name is Lincoln." The boy rubs his little sister's head with a chuckle, yet Lily motions for him to look again.

That's when the boy realizes that Lily had placed an "I", a "Heart" and a "U" block next to the initial tower. "I love you Lincoln?"

Lily nods and grabs for her brother once more, no doubt if she were older, she would join in with what her sisters had planned.

The boy smiles and scoops her in his arms, "I love you too Lily."

And seeing her chance, Lori takes a photo of the scene.

 _ **A Pageant Queen's Crown**_

"Uhh Lola… we've been walking for a bit and you still haven't told me where we're going." Lincoln tilts his head at his little sister, confusion beginning to fill his body.

Yet, the young girl doesn't' stop pulling on his arm, choosing to answer, "Oh it's a surprise! But don't worry, I'm sure you're gonna like it!"

" _That's hopeful."_ The boy breathes a mental sigh, before refocusing his gaze at his sister. The young girl holds onto a concerned, yet hopeful expression as she guides them through the seemingly random rods of Royal Woods, all the way to a small convention-center-like building.

"Uhh… your pageant hall?" He tilts his head in confusion, "What's going on Lola?"

The young pageant Diva rubs her arm in response, "Look… Lincoln… I know I haven't been the best of sisters to you, but… I wanna make that up to you."

The young boy raises an eyebrow, "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

With a soft breath, Lola responds, "I read your journal while you were in the hospital a few months ago." She rubs her arm in embarrassment; "I saw what you wrote about me there… how I can be… mean and bossy and a bad sister…"

For a moment, Lincoln considers snapping against the young girl. After all, she had violated a major rule amongst the Loud Siblings! No reading diaries without permission! And yet, he found himself squatting to her height and leaning in, curious about what she has planned to make it up to him.

"So… I decided that maybe we could… do something together?" She rubs the back of her head, "If you want to."

Lincoln raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "What do you wanna do Lola?"

"I was going through all the pageants coming up and I found out that there's a brother-sister competition going on soon… would you like to be my partner during it?"

On any other day, he would deny this request. After all, he already trains Lola! There really isn't much he can do besides actually perform! And yet, once his eyes fall upon the begging gaze of his sister, he finds himself relenting and running his hand through her long, blonde locks, "You know what… why not. I'm sure it couldn't hurt."

Lola smiles and throws her arms around her brother, "Oh thank you! Thank you so much, Lincoln!" She pulls away, "Come on! We're gonna be late!" With that, she pulls her brother's hand, leading him over to the pageant hall.

It takes a few minutes of prep, but when they're done getting ready, Lincoln wears a simple suit, while Lola wears her typical pageant gown-albeit she coved it in just a bit more glitter so it would stand out more. "Heh, I've always watched you do this, Lola… now I guess it's my turn to be a part of the act." He pulls at his collar, "So, what's the act?"

"Just follow my lead." Lola smiles and pulls her brother out of the prep room and onto the stage, "It's time!"

And soon enough, music begins to overtake the room. In response, Lincoln begins to spin Lola, dipping her down as he does so, "Haha, you're so good at this Lincoln!"

"What? I had to learn so I could help you out!" He laughs, his voice filling with excitement as he does so. "Lola, you know that you're my sister, right?"

She nods, before spinning around once more, "Yeah, I know!"

"That means I love you." He stops the girl mid-spin and looks into her eyes, before continuing to dance himself.

Lola's eyes go wide in the realization.

"No matter how much you annoy me, I love you and I will always forgive you." He finishes, and in response, Lola wraps her arms around the boy, finishing their dance with a hug…

"Thank you so much…" She whispers, pulling the young boy in close as she does so.

Lincoln replies by running his hand through her long, blonde locks, "No problem sis."

The crowd cheers for their act and claps, before they walk off stage, allowing Lola to pull on Lincoln's hand once more, "We gotta take a picture of this!"

"Haha! Ok!" He laughs as Lola pulls him over to in front of a strange man holding an oversized camera.

"Hello, would you-" He starts, only for Lola to cut him off with. "One picture of me and my great brother sir!"

And with that, he snaps a photo of them and hands it over, allowing Lola to hug her brother once more, "You're the best, Lincoln!"

 _ **Fun Times with Doctor Medicine**_

One of the worse things Lincoln found out about his condition was the exhaustion and the pain. Some days, he would himself bedridden and barely able to move a muscle, either from his body screaming out for him to stop or just him feeling unable to get up.

Today is one of those days.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Ugh..." Lincoln groans, "Come in…"

Slowly, Luan pushes her way into his room, her soft smile filling the room with a caring heat, "Lincoln... are you feeling ok? Breakfast is waitin' for ya."

The young boy puts on a sheepish smile, "Y-yeah... I'm feeling great!" He weakly pulls the sheets over him and rolls to face the wall; silently hoping that Luan wouldn't catch on as to what is happening. "I'm just tired... could you tell mom and dad to wrap it up? I'll be coming down in a few..."

The young comedian looks away and nods, "A-all right Lincoln, all right." Before she turns around and pauses, the realization hitting her as she does so. " _N-no... I can't leave him... he's in pain!"_ she glances back at him, her mind filling with worry and ideas. _"But what can I do about it?"_

From out of nowhere, a thought cuts through her mind. _"Laughter is the best medicine..."_ Luan's eyes to go wide in realization. And before she knows it, she bolts out of her brother's room and over to her own.

It takes her a few minutes to grab what she needs and rush back out, borderline kicking the room door open as she does so, "Hey Lincoln! I've got something for you!"

"Huh?" The young boy rolls over, allowing his gaze to fall upon Luan, now dressed in a freshly-ironed lab coat and a set of funny glasses. She smiles at him, and pulls a stethoscope from the jacket, before declaring, "Doctor Medicine is here to take care of you!"

"Oh no! Not Doctor Medicine! Are you gonna prescribe me a seeing-eye bear?!" Lincoln chuckles, his pained gaze softening as he does so.

"Nah! But I am here to show off my friends, starting with..." Quickly, she pulls out her puppet, the strange dummy now wearing a lab coat as well, and a strange disk on his head. "Doctor Coconuts PHD!"

"Hey tutts, I'm flattered, but I've only got an bachelor's degree!" The dummy turns to Lincoln, "I've been studying so long that I'm still one!"

"Heh, maybe you're gonna need an associate's after this!" Luan puns, throwing her head back as she does so.

"Heh, do you take fish?" Lincoln asks.

Mr. Coconuts rubs his chin for a moment," Hmm I can try, why you ask?"

"Because I think you might have to go back to school!" Lincoln laughs, with Luan following soon after.

"That was a pretty good one." The young woman wipes a tear from her eye, "Really, it was!"

"Thanks Luan..." Lincoln smiles at the young comedian. "I always enjoyed your jokes."

"I couldn't have gotten anywhere without you helping me out." Luan blushes ever so softly, while rubbing the back of her head, "You know, always being there when I needed someone to test my jokes on."

"Thanks for being there to make me laugh when I feel down." Lincoln smiles once more.

And with that, the duo hugs once more, before continuing to tell jokes, filling the home with their laughter- Luan making sure to take a photo of the scene by coming in close and posing with him as she does so.

"In fact…" Lincoln slowly pulls himself from his bed, "I'm feeling better already!" he smiles at her, "Thanks so much!"

"No problem bro." And with that, the duo heads downstairs.

 _ **Everything Stays**_

Moonlight falls upon the Loud House once more, just as it had done for countless years. Inside, the home's occupants rest, their minds filled with the hopes and dreams they sought desire…

Well, at least most of them.

" _I don't get it… during the day I'm exhausted then at night, I can't sleep!"_ Lincoln slowly makes his way down the stairs, _"…Maybe a glass of warm milk will be enough to help me out…"_

And soon, he heats up a mug full of the white liquid, before turning, allowing a certain young woman to come into view, "Luna?"

Instantly, the young woman jolts in shock, "Huh? Lincoln!" She turns to face the young boy, "Oh, hey, what're you still doing up?"

"I could say the same thing about you." Lincoln takes a seat by her, "What's up?"

Luna strums along, "Oh nothing…" She slowly moves her hands over her cords, "I was just… thinking about music and stuff…"

Lincoln's gaze softens, "I'm up because I just couldn't fall asleep again…"

"Oh?" Luna's heart begins to beat faster, "Wanna talk a bit then? I mean… it could help you fall asleep…"

The boy smiles and leans close to his sister, "Sure… about what though?"

"Anything bro. Life, girls, music." She wraps her arm around her brother, "Absolutely anything."

"Did you really get into music because of Mick Swagger?" The boy looks up in curiosity, "You never told me anything besides you found during the summer of seventh grade…"

"I'll admit, I had heard of his music before that. That concert was just when I first really enjoyed it." She chuckles, "I never thought you were that into music though… that's kinda why I never pushed you over it…"

"You know… it's been a while since you sung me a song, Luna…" Lincoln whispers, "Maybe that'll help me sleep…"

For a moment, the duo simply sits by in silence, with the young woman seemingly considering the idea, before taking a breath and smiling, "All right Lincoln, all right. I'll sing you a song…"

The young boy remains with a small grin, as if he had already known she would accept the idea.

And so, she hesitates, before speaking with a soft tone, _**"Let's go in the garden… you'll find something waiting, right there where you left it lying upside-down."**_

She runs her hand through her brother's milky-white hair, _**"When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded, the underside is lighter when you turn it around…"**_

She does her best to look into Lincoln's drooping eyes, the allure of sleep calling him once more, _**"Everything stays, right where you left it, everything stays, but it still changes…"**_ She wraps her arms around the young boy and turns, lifting him up ever so carefully, before bringing him over to and up stairs, _**"Ever so slightly… daily and nightly, in little ways… everything stays…"**_ And with that, Luna places Lincoln in his bed, placing a soft kiss upon his forehead as she does so, but not without shedding a lone tear before closing the door.

 _ **A Storyteller's Art**_

In the Loud Family, it is a rare sight to find their home devoid of all sound, but when it is, it is the perfect chance to get some work done. And Rita sits on the couch; pen in hand, ready to get some work done…

Or at least she would, if the inspiration could come to her. _"Dangit."_ She sighs in defeat, "What am I gonna do?"

"H-hey mom…" Lincoln walks up on her side and takes a look around, "Where is everyone?"

"They just went out for the day." She speaks with a soft tone; "Your sisters and father decided to go out for a bit of air… if you want you could spend some time with me you know."

For a moment, Lincoln looks at his mother, before hopping on the couch next to her, taking the chance to check the time.

It's half-passed noon.

" _I really have been sleeping in late…"_ The young boy's gaze softens, his eyes slowly making their way towards his mother- the woman slowly, but surely, writing out the words required to tell her story. _"I wonder what' she's working on right now…"_

And much to her surprise, the woman takes a breath and closes the book in defeat, "How are you feeling, Lincoln?" She speaks with a soft, motherly tone, her begging gaze falling upon her only son.

"I'm all right." He looks up at the small notebook; its pages only containing what she had just begun working on, "Whatcha' doin'?"

"I was just working on my novel." She looks down upon the book, "But… I've been having some writer's block lately…"

"Maybe you just haven't had enough ideas." Lincoln chuckles, _"We have so many stories that will never be written down…"_

For a moment, Rita considers the idea and smiles, before nodding, "Sure son, maybe you could give me some ideas to work with. That way I can finish this story."

And so, Lincoln took a deep breath and began to speak about their vacation- about how he felt and how much fun they had despite the circumstances. He speaks about how each of the sisters found out about the truth, and how hard it was for Lori to keep up the appearance of a normal vacation, ending it by talking about how they played with the fireflies on their last night of vacation.

"Wow… you did all of that?" Rita's eyes go wide in surprise and Lincoln nods in confirmation, "Yeah, even though it was last-minute… we had fun on it." He looks up, towards his mother, "What'd you think?"

The woman wraps her arm around her son and smiles, "I think I have some new ideas for my book."

"That's great, mom." Lincoln smiles, before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a soft embrace.

And Rita returns the favor *Sniffle*

"A-are you crying mom?" Lincoln tries to look up at his mother, though her large arms stop him from doing so.

"D-don't worry Lincoln, I'm fine… you know I love you, right?" She speaks with a weary tone, almost as if she is trying to hide how she truly feels about the situation, for her son's sake.

"I love you too mom." He replies, already knowing why she had begun to shed tears.

 _ **Cooking By The Dozen**_

"So dad… what was this all about?" Lincoln tilts his head in confusion while he walks along his father's side. The man carries two large bags in his hands, filled with the random groceries that they needed to feed their large family.

The man hesitates his answer, before smiling at his son, "Lincoln, we're the only men in the family ya know, and we really haven't spend that much time together…" He looks back up, "So I was thinking… why don't we just spend some time together."

Lincoln smiles at that, "Sure dad, but why'd we go get groceries then? Mom's usually the one to do that and stuff."

"Yes, of course." He coughs, trying to buy himself a chance to think, "But, your mother has been taking extra hours at work for your… you know." He looks down the ground ahead, while Lincoln looks away.

Quickly however, he looks back up and smiles at his son, "So I was thinking, why not try to cook with you? I mean, your sisters told me that you know how to cook ten different types of eggs in a single pan!"

"That's nothing…" He waves his father off, before rubbing his arm, "Anyone can do that…"

"No they can't." The man smiles and shoves one of the bags into his other hand, freeing one to run through his son's hair, "Not even master chefs can pull off what you did without years of practice, and you did it without thinking."

The man stops walking and squats down to his son's height, "I want you to help me cook dinner tonight, all right? I trust that you can do it."

For a moment, Lincoln considers the idea. It hadn't been too long since he cooked for his family, and they really seemed to enjoy what he put out for them, plus, this gives him the perfect chance to spend some time with the only other man in the house, his father. And so, he takes a breath and nods, "Sure."

"Great." The man gives a small smile, before turning and walking up the path leading to their home.

And within a few moments, the duo stands in front of the kitchen sink, their ingredients ready for their work.

"Here we go!" Lynn Sr. cheerfully declares, before he begins cutting the vegetables that would used to season their dish.

"Don't forget the potato!" Lincoln quickly adds, peeling and chopping up the vegetable, before tossing it in the dish.

"But we can't forget the onion! It has layers to get through!" Lynn Sr. adds, taking apart a purple one, before throwing it in.

And for the next few minutes, the duo works, mixing the vegetables and seasonings into the pot, before ending with…

"And a pinch of salt for flavoring." Lincoln takes a small amount of salt and drops it in, allowing his father to stir the pot for a moment, before covering it and checking the time.

"Ready for this, Lincoln?" Several minutes pass after that, before the man pulls the cover from the pot, revealing a pot of beef stew.

"Yep." The young boy grabs a spoon and scoops a bite of the dish, with his father doing the same. And together, they try out the meal, smiling once the warm liquid hits their tongues. "Delicious."

Lynn Sr. rubs his son's hands, "And we made it together. I love you son."

"I love you too dad." Lincoln replies, hugging his father as he does so.

 _ **Singing In The Rain**_

"Lincoln! Can we go outside right now, please?!" Lana pulls on her ailing brother, a bright smile on her face as she does so.

"But Lana, it's raining!" Lincoln counters, his voice filling with exasperation, "We're gonna get sick!"

The young girl pouts, looking into her brother's eyes as she does so, "Aww, please bro? I really wanna!" she comes as close to him as possible, "There's plenty of fresh mud and I really need to play in it!"

For a moment, Lincoln remains silent, before taking a deep breath in relent, "Fine, I'll play in the mud with you." He runs his hand through her short, blonde hair, "But only for a few minutes, ok? I don't want you getting sick!" Though even he can't help, but think, _"Yeah… one sick person is enough for this family…"_

Lana's eyes light up, before she grabs his hand and pulls, "Come on! If we hurry, we might even be able to play with Cliff and Charles!" And with that, they rush out the Loud House door and Lana wastes no time jumping into a puddle, rubbing her face in it as she does so.

"Ahh, this feels great." The young girl rolls around for a moment, before motioning for her brother to join her, "Come on Linc! The mud's fine!"

" _Well… at least mud won't cause a flare up, right?"_ Lincoln smiles and takes a seat next to the young girl, "Heh, feels nice."

"You've gotta roll around in it!" Lana pushes against him, "Come on! It's fun!"

The young boy smiles and complies, causing himself to be covered in the wet earth, "Heh, you're right, this does feel great!"

Lana wraps her arms around her brother, "I'm glad you like it. I've always wanted to have fun with you in here, but you never wanna…"

"That's because mud just isn't my thing, sis." He scratches her head, causing her to per like a puppy. "But, you seemed to really want me to join you today, so I thought, "Ehh, why not?"

"I'm glad…" She comes as close as she can to him, *Sniffle*

" _She's crying…"_ Lincoln continues to scratch her head, "You all right Lana? You all right?"

"Y-yes…" her voice wavers, "I just… this is the first time we're hanging out in the mud like this. I'm just so happy!"

" _That's a lie…"_ The boy takes a deep breath and returns the embrace; doing his best to cover her in his heat, "Don't worry Lana…"

"Worried? I'm not worried about anything!" She quickly snaps back, doing her best to keep up the cover.

Yet, Lincoln already knows what's going on with her, "Lana… Please, don't lie to me. I know…" He begins to tear up himself, though the rain does a great job of masking it all. He looks into her eyes and she nods.

"Yeah…" She looks away, "I'm worried what's going to happen now that you're sick and getting worse!"

Lincoln pulls her in close and looks into her eyes, "Don't worry Lana… everything's gonna be all right."

And Lana replies with a smile, "Thank you Lincoln… for everything."

"No problem Lana, no problem." He replies with a smile.

 _ **The Scientist's Challenge**_

Dawn breaks over the sleepy town of Royal Woods. It's soft rays illuminating everything for the whole world to see... as well as bathing a certain room in the Loud House in light.

"Ugh..." Lisa slowly opens her eyes, "Morning already?" Only to immediately raise her little arm up in a desperate attempt to protect her eyes.

It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust, though when they do, she yawns, and hops to her feet. " _I suppose it is time to test the status of the experimental runs…"_ The young girl's heart begins to race as she approaches her computer and boots it up, causing several red bars to appear on her screen.

Her heart sinks, _"No… none of my trials succeeded?!"_ she grabs her computer and mouse, quickly scrolling through the list, _"Come on! At least one should've worked! I spent all night working on the formula!"_

Yet, much to her dismay, all the computer greets her with is line of red names, signaling how badly each had failed with just how red they were.

*Knock* *Knock* "Lisa, you in here?" A familiar voice asks, causing the young boy to quickly recompose herself and move to answer, revealing a certain white-haired boy.

"Greetings elder brother, what brings you to my room this morning?" The young scientist does her best to remain calm cool and collected, though this proves to be easier said than done.

The young boy's gaze softens at her, "I just came to tell you that breakfast is ready…" he leans in close to her, "Lisa… did you sleep last night?"

"Of course I did." She quickly adjusts her glasses, only to realize that sleeping on her face all night had caused its bridge to bend. "Why would you suggest that I did not?"

Lincoln squats down to the young girl's height and looks into her eyes with a begging gaze, "Because… you have bags under your eyes…" he motions towards a mug resting on her desk, "And you've started breaking laboratory safety codes by having coffee next to your chemicals."

"Pish-posh." The young girl waves him off, "I am on the verge of a major breakthrough! I cannot yield to the allure of sleep! I must-"

"Find a cure?" Lincoln cuts her off with a sigh.

The young girl nods, "Yes… I am searching for a cure… but currently, my attempts have proved fruitless…"

" _I can't leave her like this…"_ For a moment, Lincoln simply thinks, trying to come up with some way to help his worried toddler sister… yet, only one idea enters his mind. "Lisa, you need to take break. As much as you don't like to admit it, you're still a toddler you know…" He runs his hand through her short, brown hair and looks into her eyes.

"That is blasphemy!" The young girl counters, "I cannot-"

Yet, before she can even finish her declaration, Lincoln wraps his arms and lifts her up, a soft smile on his face as he does so, "Lisa… I know I'm sick but you have a life too…" he looks into her eyes with a begging gaze, "You need to take a break."

"I don't care, I will!" The young scientist tries to counter. Though before she can finish, Lincoln begins to rock her ever so carefully, causing her eyes to get heavy. "You've done great Lisa. I know you're gonna do great…"

Lincoln begins to tear up with that.

"But Lincoln-" She tries to argue, yet her brother places her in her bed and sits down at her side, "Please… get some rest Lisa, for me."

"But Lincoln, I can get some rest later, when you're better!" Lisa raises her voice at her elder brother, fear filling her tone.

" _I'm not gonna get through to her that easily."_ The boy takes a deep breath, before placing her in her bed and taking a seat next to her. "Lisa… as much as you hate to admit it, you're still a four-year-old. You need your sleep."

"I don't care! I will-" She tries to counter, only for Lincoln to run his hand through her short, brown hair.

"Please Lisa, get some rest, for me." He leans in close and looks into her eyes. In them, he can see the image of a scared child desperately trying to cling onto whatever little hope she could find. "And maybe… you'll be able to figure something out later, ok?"

"But… but…" She tries to speak up, and yet, she yawns before she can finish, "Oh all right…"

The boy smiles in response. "Thank you Lisa." He stands up straight and smiles back at her, "I'll wake you up in a few hours ok?"

"Don't let me sleep for too long…" She whispers, her eyelids getting heavy, "I need to continue my work…"

"All right Lisa… all right…" he whispers, before grabbing Lily and stepping out of the room with her in his arms. Though even he can't help, but tear up once the door closes behind him. After all, he did have hope in Lisa's work too, and it hurt to see her hurting herself over him.

 _ **Backyard Shenanigans**_

" _All right… this is gonna be all right…"_ Lynn raises her hand and moves it towards the door, her heart beginning to race as she does so, _"This is gonna be all right. Lincoln's perfectly fine, right? He asked me to go out with him…"_

Yet, before her fist can make contact with the door, the plank opens up, revealing her brother- all dressed in his typical attire, seemingly ready to go out for a game, "Oh, there you are Lynn! I was just about to go look for ya!"

"Heh, I doubt it." She crosses her arms and smirks, "I've always wanted to hang out with ya bro." She gives him a playful punch on the arm, "You've just never been up for one…"

"Heh, well I'm up for it now." Lincoln smiles and gives a weak punch back.

"So what do you wanna do?" the older sister turns and begins to make her way down the stairs, "Since you're not really plannin' on going too far out, we're gonna be in the backyard, right?"

Lincoln nods, "You got it. I just wanted to play a game of catch and stuff." He quickly follows her, and before they know it, they're out in the backyard, with Lynn tossing a baseball, preparing to send it flying.

"You ready for this bro?" She raises her eyebrow in curiosity.

Lincoln widens his stance and holds out his arm, "Yep, send it my way Lynn!"

"All right then." She takes a deep breath, _"I can't hurt Lincoln… I just can't…"_ And with that, she sends the ball over ever so gently, allowing Lincoln to catch it without a fight. And upon seeing this, she breathed a quiet sigh in relief, _"I won't be rough… that way he'll be fine, no matter what."_

However, her brother grimaced at his sister's throw, "Come on Lynn, I know you can do better than that!" He quickly sends the ball flying back, causing Lynn to have to jump to catch it. "I'll be fine, just show me what you got!"

Lynn pauses in surprise, _"He… he wants me to go hard on him?!"_ She looks down at the ball for a moment, before taking a deep breath and launching it at the boy, forcing him to rush over to catch it.

"There ya go!" He laughs, before sending back as hard as he can, "Catch this!"

"Oh I will!" Lynn rushes forward and grabs the ball, only to send it back a moment later, "Think fast!"

And think fast he did, before sending back without hesitation.

Nearby, a certain young woman takes the chance to capture of a photo of the scene, before smiling and walking away, no doubt to add that one to her collection.

Minutes pass after that, with them running around and just playing with the ball, before the duo finally stops, both of them panting in exhaustion.

"That was fun." Lincoln laughs, with his sister following suit soon after.

"Heh yeah-" Lynn's eyes go wide in shock, "Lincoln! You're face is red!" She grabs onto his arm and pulls, "I have to get you inside!"

" _Well it was fun while it lasted…"_ Lincoln sighs as his older sister pulls him inside. _"But… It was fun."_ He smiles, and he swears, he can see Lynn smile as well, agreeing with it.

 _ **Poems Of The Soul**_

" _I've always hated hospitals…"_ Lucy slowly makes her way down the seemingly random and winding hallways of Royal Woods Medical Center, her notebook held closely to her chest, hoping that none of the nurses would try to stop her. _"They're always so cold and bright and… as much as I enjoy the stench of death, there is so much pain here… it's easy to get numbed to it all."_

Without hesitation, she makes her way over to a seemingly random room… at least she feels it's random- every bedroom in this place seems so similar, it's difficult to find someone if you don't even know where to start looking…

At least Lucy knows where. "Lincoln? You in here?"

"H-hey Lucy." The young boy tiredly greets, "What's up?"

"How are you feeling?" She walks up to his side and climbs on his bed, careful not to disturb him that much.

The boy sits upright and wraps his arm around his sister, "I'm fine, the doctors said that I can go home soon. It was just a minor flare up." He looks around for a second, "And mom and dad had to head out for a bit, so they'll be back soon and stuff."

Lucy breathes a quiet sigh of relief. "That's good… really…" She looks up at him with a begging gaze, "While we wait… could you listen to one of my poems?"

Lincoln smiles in response, "Sure Lucy, I'd love to!"

And so, the young girl opens up her notebook and quickly goes over a certain page, "My brother… the one I'm close to…" She pauses, "I'm stuck here…."

"Hmm…" the boy rubs his chin for a moment, "Hmm, maybe instead of trying to focus on just me, how about we start talking about everyone?" He rubs her back, urging her to consider the idea.

"Hmm… actually… that doesn't sound like that bad of an idea…" She looks at him, "But where should we start?"

"How about talking about everything you guys do?" Lincoln rubs his chin, "About how we're always there for each other, no matter how difficult things may get?"

Lucy thinks of the idea for a moment, before taking a breath and beginning to write. "Ok then… Stand together like we're rocks in a wall… growing stronger everyday even more. Stand together in the eye of the storm and show the whole world who we are, oh!" She looks to her brother, "Keep on walking to the sound of the drums, feel the fire run through out lungs, find our treasure in the light of the sun and show the whole world who we are."

Lincoln smiles, "That was great Lucy." He pulls her close, into a soft embrace, "Really… it was."

The girl cracks a soft smile, "Thanks Lincoln…" Before she pushes him away and pulls out the camera, "Wanna… take a photo of this?"

The boy smiles and nods, "Sure." Before the duo comes together into a small photo, the notebook and poem open for all to see.

 _ **Mall-Time Follies**_

"You sure you wanna do this? I mean, you're gonna be pushing this chair for the whole way..." Lincoln looks up at his older sister, the young woman's smile beaming with joy.

"Course I don't!" Leni tries to sound cheery, though it's obvious that it pains her to do so, "We haven't gone for a walk in a long time you know!" Her voice is uneasy, as if she is trying desperately to keep her composure despite the circumstances.

Lincoln smiles in response, _"At... at least she's trying to be happy, right?"_ he sighs, "So, uhh... where are we going, Leni?"

"The mall." She responds with a soft voice, "I thought that since you're staying home a lot, I could at least give you more stuff to sleep in… or more stuff to do while you're in bed…" The second part of her sentence is quieter than the first, almost as if she is trying to hide her true intentions from her brother.

For a moment, Lincoln hesitated. It is true; he has been resting more and more often because of his fatigue. And yet, he continues to push on, at least trying to force himself in the morning... only to stay just a few more hours in it. "All right Leni... do you think they'll have something I like?"

"Of course!" The young woman flares one of her arms while using the other to push Lincoln's wheelchair along. "They have everything there!"

"All right Leni, all right." The young boy replies, still unsure of what else to say to her.

 _ **A Few Minutes Later…**_

"Y-you're really taking me here?!" Lincoln's eyes go wide in surprise, but Leni simply nods in confirmation.

"I, like, asked Lori what I could do with you while we were out and she told me that you loved comics and videogames. So I went and looked around the mall for a comic book store!" She motions towards the storefront. It's small, with a wooden entrance and walls made of red brick, while its aisles are packed with hundreds of random graphic novels and books that would make an avid fan blush in joy. "Wanna go inside?!"

The young boy smiles and nods, "Sure Leni, sure." He looks up at her, a soft smile forming as he does so, "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet!" She cheers, before pushing his chair in, "Let's go get some comic books!"

And Lincoln smiles as she does so. Close to an hour passes before they finally emerge, now with Lincoln carrying a small stack of comics in his arms and Leni holding onto the biggest smile she can muster, "Are you excited to read those Linc?!"

The boy smiles and nods, "Yeah Leni, I am… thanks so much."

"No problem Linky." She pinches his cheek, before wrapping her arm around him and pulling out her phone, "Wanna take a picture of this?!"

"Sure." He speaks with a soft smile, before his sister comes in close and snaps a photo of them together.

She then stands up straight, "I like totes gotta send this to my friends!"

" _Heh Leni never changes… I love her optimism despite what's going on."_ Lincoln can't help, but chuckle at the young woman's actions.

"I know!" She quickly shoves the device back in her pocket after that; "I should go get you clothes so you can be more comfortable in bed!" She grabs onto the chair's handles and begins to push.

"Sure Leni, I think I'd like that." The boy replies, before she pushes him forward, deeper into Royal Woods Mall.

 _ **Lori And Lincoln: Videogame Experts!**_

With a soft, careful eye, Lori scrolls through the collection of photos she had taken the time to collect over the past few days. Each one carrying a story worth more than a thousand words… and yet not a single one would be penned. _"Lincoln really is the best brother a girl could have…"_

 _"I'm gonna miss his smile the most..."_ Lori has to fight the urge to tear up, _"We've been through so much together and now? He's sick and there's nothing I can do about it..."_ Yet, she falters, causing soft tears to make their way down her cheeks and fall upon the photo she holds in her hand- of the time they visited Dairyland together. _"I don't even remember taking this one…"_ She raises her eyes towards her door with that,

" _I have to go talk to him… it's hard to do anything else when you're home alone…"_ She hops to her feet, before stepping out of her room into the calm afternoon hallway. As a part of her grounding, she was to stay inside all day, not that she minds of course. That just gives her more time to spend with Lincoln. And today, everyone else was out with their own errands- though deep down she could tell, they all wanted some time to themselves to just think.

"Hey bro... you in here?" The young woman knocks on his bedroom door, hoping that her ailing brother would be awake and alert.

Yet, she receives no answer.

" _I'm not surprised…"_ With a soft sigh, she pushes into the boy's room, only to find that he is nowhere to be found. _"Where could he have gone?"_

Quickly, she turns and heads downstairs. Her heart begins to race in fear, _"Please be all right… please be all right!"_ Yet, much to her relief, she finds her brother sitting on the couch, his weakly gripping his console's controller, doing his best to fight the pain filling his body whenever he would try to move too quickly.

"Oh, there you are Lincoln." Carefully, the young woman takes a seat by his side and wraps her arm around him, speaking with a soft, motherly voice as she does so. "How are you feeling?"

The young boy responds with a soft smile, "I'm swell, Lori!" His voice is filled with pain, though he does his best to hide it…

" _Just hang in there bro…"_ Lori runs her hand through her little brother's hair, "Heh, remember what happened after the first time you tried to handle the house while mom and dad were gone?"

"Yeah?" He tilts his head in curiosity. "Everything went to poo… And then you had to come in and help me out…"

The young woman chuckles, "Of course, I knew that would happen…" She looks into her eyes, "But I was hoping you would prove me wrong, ya know…"

The young boy looks up in surprise. "Y-you did?"

"Course." She chuckles, "I always thought that you'd be in charge after I left, ya know…" She looks away, _"But now I don't think that's ever gonna be possible…"_ before she continues, "Remember what we did when mom and dad came home?"

"We played videogames together…" Lincoln smiles, "It was one of the most fun times I ever had…"

" _That's good to hear."_ Lori stands up and grabs the spare controller off the nearby mantle, "Wanna play a round with me, bro?" She raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "It'll be fun!"

Lincoln hesitates for a moment, the ever-growing pain in his hands urging him not to go along with the idea, and yet, he can't help but smile and nod, "Course!" The young boy quickly leans forward, "But I'm not gonna go easy on you!"

"Heh neither will I!" Lori chuckles, before the battle starts. And within a few minutes of starting, is over, with Lori's character knocked on the ground in defeat. "Heh, good job Lincoln, you beat me!"

"Heh that I did." The young boy smiles and turns towards his sister, "Thanks Lori."

The young woman replies by simply waving him off, "Nah, you're my brother. It was no problem." She begins to rub his head again.

Yet, the boy simply looks away, beginning to tear up as he does so, "Not just for this… but for everything. You know, taking that vacation, bringing Ronnie Anne over and everything!"

Without hesitation, she wraps her arms around her brother, pulling him into a soft embrace, "It was literally no problem." She slides her hand into her pocket and grabs the camera from it, "Wanna take a photo?"

The boy smiles and nods, "I'd love to." Allowing Lori to lean in and quickly snap a picture of them.

And with that, she stands up straight, "Anyways, I'm gonna make us a snack, I'm hungry."

Lincoln smiles, "Thanks Lori!" Before she disappears from sight, leaving the young boy alone to smile at what time they had spent together.

 _ **Lily's Second Birthday!**_

"Is it on Clyde?" Lincoln fiddles with the controls on the camera, trying to get the darn thing on record.

"I-I think so!" The young boy takes the chance to pear through the eyepiece, allowing the image of his best friend to come into view, "Y-you ready for this bro? I mean, one button and this will be on record."

"Yep! I'm ready for this!" He replies with a smile, before walking over to the rest of his waiting family, the camera following him as he does so, "Start recording!"

Clyde blushes in embarrassment though, because he had accidently started the device already… not that he would mention it though.

"Hey Lily!" Lincoln speaks with an excited tone while he picks up his infant-now-toddler sister, "This is your big brother Lincoln and your family all wishin' you a happy birthday! You turned two today!" He turns towards the rest of his siblings, before everyone comes together hug Lily, causing her to giggle.

Quickly, he rushes over to Clyde and turns the camera; allowing a familiar Latino girl to come into view, "By the way, this is my friend Ronnie Anne!" He steps over to her and wraps his arm around the girl, "And the guy holding the camera is Clyde!" He motions for him to turn the camera towards himself.

"Hey Lily!" Clyde complies; giving a small wave as he does so, though it's obvious he's having a tough time keeping their composure given the circumstances.

Finally, the camera returns to focus on Lincoln, "Anyways… by the time you're able to see this, I'll…" He gulps, "Be gone… and I don't think you'll be able to remember me…" He begins to tear up, "But… I just wanted to tell you and everyone else… that I love you all, and that you're the best sisters and friends a guy could ask for." He turns to face the crowd with that, motioning for Clyde to join them as he does so.

And he complies, mounting the camera on its tripod, before rushing over to his best friend's side. "Thanks for everything you guys, really… thank you!"

The girls break their composure with that, breaking down in tears before all rushing over to Lincoln. And before anyone knows it, they've pulled their brother into a massive, claustrophobic hug, with no one willing to let go.

And wordlessly, Ronnie Anne and Clyde join in. With that, the feed cuts out, leaving the image of a massive group hug as its final image.

 _ **Present Day…**_

And with that, the screen goes dark, leaving the Louds sitting in silence, though from the looks on their faces, it is obvious that they are on the verge of tears.

"A-all right kids." Lynn Sr.'s voice is shaky and he adjusts his tie quickly, "We'll leave in a few minutes… why don't you girls go to your rooms for a bit, and Lori…"

The young woman looks up at her father, "Yes?"

"Make sure the twins are ready, ok?" He finishes, stepping into his room as he does so, with his wife following soon after.

Lori nods in understanding, before she and the rest of her siblings comply, heading upstairs and into their rooms in complete silence.

And soon enough, Lori walks into her room and drops in front of the desk, _"I can't believe so much time has passed… it was literally yesterday when we got back, right?"_ Without thinking, she finds herself leaning down and pulling a small book from one of the shelves, as well as a small pen. And wordlessly, she begins to write.

"It's been over a year since that trip… and things haven't really changed much around here…" The young woman stares at the words she had written, her heart beginning to beat faster while memories begin to flood her mind, _"At least… I like to try and think that things haven't changed…"_

She pauses and turns, taking the chance to look out her window as she does so, " _If I could say anything about Lincoln… it was that he was the greatest brother a girl could have. He was funny, kind, determined and well… himself. He was Lincoln Loud, and he was our brother…"_

Slowly, soft tears begin to make their way down the young woman's cheeks, their salt beginning to fill her mouth as the touch her lips. It takes her another moment to build up the courage to continue, _"After that summer… Lincoln just seemed to get worse… He would have more sleepless nights and always ended up tired during the day… he started to forget about us more and more- almost to the point where we wondered if he would be able to take care of himself…"_

Her hand begins to tremble, _"Finally… it happened, Lincoln… he began to cough blood and we rushed him to the hospital. The doctors told us that his kidneys and liver were failing… there was nothing they could do…"_ She hesitates, doing her best to maintain her composure as she does so, _"That was the day Lincoln died… we surrounded him as he went... as he left us."_

" _After that day, no one slept well. We all couldn't help but focus on our only brother… Lisa ended up locking herself in her room for a week, while everyone else took a break from their hobbies to mourn the loss."_ Lori's gaze slowly moves to a small crib, where two young children peacefully rest, _"As for me… before he left, I gave birth to my twins, Liberty and Linka…"_ Her gaze becomes downcast; _"You should've seen Lincoln's face when he first held them… he was as surprised as I was when we found out that they both had white hair, just like their uncle…"_

" _There isn't much left for me to write here… well, besides deciding to talk about why I wrote this. After he died, I found myself losing focus on my family. I was so busy taking care of everyone that I just… couldn't go on. Mom took everyone to a grief counselor and I'll admit, she was brilliant! But, all she could do is tell us that we needed more time… That's when I remembered mom's book."_

Lori can't help, but crack a smile at the old idea, _"She's been writing that thing ever since I was born, but never got around to finishing it. (Thankfully Luan sent it to a publisher early. Stories that end with the revelation that they were all a dream are typically seen as cop-outs). And I'll admit… writing helps."_

She leans back in his chair, her mind beginning to flood with more memories, all-relating to a certain young, white-haired boy, _"It's almost like he's back with me again. We're on the road, driving towards a never-ending summer in the hills. Though, those days are hazy to us, I remember us running around and just having fun."_ She chuckles, _"it's like the whole world was at our feet. We watched the seasons change there, and every road led towards adventure. I remember there were mountains in the way, but it didn't keep us from seeing the sea. There we stood up in arms, it was home wherever we were. And we stayed strong, for him, in the world we were making."_

" _Now that I think of it… I can still hear his voice in the breeze, see his shadows under the oak trees…"_ And with her final words, she closes the diary and shoves her pen through its spiral, _"After all… the memories you hold onto never change…"_ Slowly, her mind wanders to that of one of their last conversations. _"Don't worry Lori…"_ He had told her, _"Everything is gonna be all right… Life is strange like that, you know? I've lived a happy life with you girls. You were all the best sisters a boy could have."_ She remembers how in the next few days after that, he began to forget more and more. His mind slowly deteriorating before he succumbed- with all of his family members surrounding him as he passed on. The mere memory of that is more than enough to bring Lori to tears.

" _Goodbye Lincoln… thank you for being the best brother ever."_ Lori stands up with that and wipes the tears from her eyes, though the stream doesn't stop.

*Wahh! * Two cries cut through the silence of the room, causing Lori to rush over to the crib and pull her children out, cradling as she does so. _"These two remind me so much of Lincoln…"_ She sighs, _"But… I know that they'll never be able to be like him. He was one-of-a-kind!"_ Slowly, the duo falls asleep in their mother's arms, allowing the young woman to return them to their crib, _"I miss you so much, Lincoln…"_

"Hey Lori… it's time to go…" Leni sticks her head through their room door, "You ready?"

Lori gives a slight nod, "Yeah… I am…" She turns and opens the door, wrapping her arms around her younger sister with that, "Has it really been a year already?"

"Yeah… it has…" Leni returns the embrace, before tugging on her sister ever so slightly. Motioning for her to come along. And without hesitation, she complies.

For the next few hours after that, the Loud Family drive down a familiar road, a solemn silence having taken over them.

It is sundown by the time they reach a familiar hill. At its peak rests a small tree, its twisted bark leaning off the cliff's edge while they can see little oranges beginning to form in its leaves.

With a quiet turn of the ignition, Lynn Sr. parks at the base of the cliff and hops out of the van, with Lori choosing to lead the way up the hill.

A soft scent overtakes the group, filling their air with a sweet smell before they sit under the tree, watching at the sun begins its descent under the horizon once more.

"Remember the summers we spent up here, these hazy days are to remember…" Lori whispers, her voice filling the air with a soothing heat, "It's where we watch the seasons change, with our family running here, all roads will lead to adventure…" She has to fight the urge to tear up, though she manages and turns to face her siblings, "Though there may be mountains in the way, they won't keep us from the sea… Here we stand up together, holding arm in arm, there is a home, wherever we are…" Her voice fills with a soft hope with that, "And together we'll stand together in the eye of the storm, never letting one drift off…"

The Loud Family begins to cry with that, the memories of that single summer coming back to them all in that one moment.

Hours pass with them just sitting around there, letting their pained cries and memories they had held onto for so long fill the air, that is, until Rita stands up straight and speaks with a motherly tone, "All right guys… it's time to go."

The Young Louds come together and begin to pose, while Lori sets a camera on a timer and hops into one last photo.

And, with a flash of light, the picture saved and its image displayed on the camera for all to see.

Lori takes hold of the image and smiles one more time, _"I'll never forget you Lincoln. After all the memories you hold on to never change… even as the faces fade from your memory."_ She looks up, towards the setting sun, _"I know that we will see you again, one day."_ And she knows, the rest of her sisters feel the same way.

" _Life is strange, I know that for sure…"_ She chuckles at just how strange they all look in the photo. Why, if it weren't for the two children in her arms and Lily now standing up and earing a lavender dress, she would say that this was a photo taken last year! _"And yet, we're all just standing around, doing our best to smile. We all know you wanted us to be happy in the end."_

And so, she packs the camera in her bag, removing the image from her sight. Though, as she does so, she swears she can see a faint outline standing right in the middle of their group- that of a certain white-haired boy, smiling, and doing his best to stay as close to them as possible, _"And until that day comes, we know you'll be by our side. Our brother, forever. Memories never change Lincoln… Memories never change."_

And with that, the Louds return to their van and drive off, leaving the hill where they started their vacation behind, and a small memorial for their brother standing at the base of the tree, facing the beautiful sunset sea.

 _ **The End**_

12-9-6-5 9-19 19-20-18-1-14-7-5 25-15-21 11-14-15-23, 25-15-21-'12-12

4-15 20-8-9-14-7-19 20-8-1-20 25-15-21 4-15 14-15-20 20-18-21-12-25 21-14-4-5-18-19-20-1-14-4 1-14-4 13-1-11-5 25-15-21 17-21-5-19-20-9-15-14 10-21-19-20 23-8-15 25-15-21 18-5-1-12-12-25 1-18-5. 2-21-20 10-21-19-20 11-14-15-23 20-8-1-20, 9-14 20-8-5 5-14-4, 9-20 9-19 14-15-20 9-14 20-8-5 19-20-1-18-19 20-15 8-15-12-4 25-15-21-18 4-5-19-20-9-14-25, 2-21-20 9-14 25-15-21-18-19-5-12-6. 20-8-1-14-11-19 6-15-18 20-8-5 13-5-13-15-18-9-5-19!

 **A/N Heh, before I go into my typical end-of-story rant, let me just get some housekeeping stuff out of the way. I thank everyone who's supported me getting to this point and my editors' work. Without you guys, I definitely wouldn't have been able to write as well as I have! As for a sequel, I'll consider the idea, but I will probably decide against it since given the nature of the fic, I really would tread a fine line about being a rip-off of another fic.**

 **Songs Used:**

" **Everything Stays" – Rebecca Sugar (YouTube) v=bNnfuvC1LlU**

" **Monody** **(feat. Laura Brehm)** **" – TheFatRat (YouTube) v=B7xai5u_tnk**

 **And with that, the last of my original three Loud House multi-chapter stories is complete! Man, there's so much I could talk about now. Like how I really had issues trying to write this or why I took that hiatus. But, unless someone asks me I see no reason to share. If anything, I'll tell you guys this was by far the hardest story I've ever written and it really took a toll on me. I'll admit, I was hesitant to continue this way back when I posted the first chapter and was strongly considering just leaving this hanging until UnderratedHero came by and encouraged me. And, until Sesquipedalian Numeral came by and pushed me to finish, I still wasn't even sure I could complete this!**

 **But I have, and so before I leave you guys for a bit, I'll leave you all one final message:** _ **"Faded pictures bleached by sun, the tale's told, the summer's done. In memories the Louds still play, on a sunny, summer's day…"**_

 **Thank you all for your support!**

 **What's next for me? Well now that this story is done, I can finally begin focusing my energy on the strange Bun Bun story I have planned, as well as a few one-shots I've had on the backburner! I hope you guys will enjoy them!**

 **And with this, I take my bow, until next time! And as always, if you want to talk and/or hang out, feel free to PM me and join the Loud House Discord Server!**


End file.
